Imperfections
by Ariaprincess
Summary: In a world ravaged by a widespread disease, looking scarred and twisted has become the societal norm. A certain few, however, survived the disease, due to some genetic mutation, as beautiful, flawless individuals. Instead of becoming leaders, they are now no better than property; coveted by anyone who's anyone and available for sale. GerIta, FrUK, SpaMano, and PruCan.
1. Chapter 1

"And here, last but not least, we have a fine specimen, a male, around 19 years old, _beautiful_ blonde hair, _astounding_ violet eyes! Note the creamy, unmarked skin! No blemishes, no scars, a true Perfect! Feminine build, surprisingly strong for somebody of his stature! Do we have any customers? Bidding starts at 1,000 dollars!"

Matthew cast his eyes downwards as the barker tugged at the chain around his neck. The metal cut into his skin, chafing and stifling; he could barely breathe.

"1,500!" Somebody in the crowd yelled, the hoarse voice giving Matthew chills.

"2,000!" Shouted another. "2,500!" "3,000!" The different voices mingled in the air, all having the same raspy quality that showed they were rich, ugly. and probably perverts. Matthew still had the bruises on his stomach from his _last_ owner, who had returned him, unsatisfied with his "conduct". That man was mean, and Matthew had been glad to see the last of him.

The person who ran these things always made sure to cover up those marks, anyway. Wouldn't want to show damaged merchandise. Even if they would heal within a day, it still looked messy to have bruises mar a pretty little boy like himself.

"10,000!" The last bid rang in the air, jolting Matthew out of his thoughts. This voice wasn't the smoothest, but it wasn't the most unpleasant thing Matthew had heard. "Going once, going twice, _sold,_ to the man with the red eyes!"

That wasn't very unusual. After the disease had spread, almost everybody looked strange. Scars running down cheeks like checkerboards; missing noses, eyeballs, and limbs; skin ravaged by sores and bruises that just wouldn't dissipate. Stranger side effects, like horns and animal ears. You'd think Matthew was one of the lucky ones, not to be ravaged by the unhealthy virus, but benefiting from it instead, becoming healthier instead of disgusting.

Instead, it made him into an item to be displayed, bought, and sold.

...

Feliciano never wanted to leave his brother.

The two were inseparable. People usually wanted them, but money was very hard to buy twins. One Perfect was expensive enough, but twins? It was like buying a matching set of pottery; expensive as hell, but apparently worth it after the initial spending rush has subsided. People had tried to separate them, but Feliciano gave them the cute eyes and cried. People always gave in when Feliciano wanted them to.

Lovino didn't want to be purchased.

From what he knew, being bought basically meant that you had to give yourself to whoever paid a stupidly large amount of money to own you. It made him sick. He had heard tales of Perfects being used for bad things, taken to private rooms to be beaten senseless, bruised and battered with knowledge that they would heal within the next day. Broken bones took longer, so most people didn't bother with them, but they would mess around with their new merchandise until it broke, then mended itself, so they could break it again. He didn't want that to happen to him, much less to Feliciano, who, as he proudly exclaimed over and over, was still a virgin.

Yuck.

"Alright, you disgusting pieces of filth, get out there and look pretty! If you don't, I guarantee something bad will happen the next time you fall asleep..." The threat hung above everybody's heads as they trudged up the wooden stairs to the stage.

"Feliciano and Lovino, you're up first."

Lovino took his brother by the hand, leading him as if to the gallows. They took their places onstage, backs to the audience, hands clutched together. The reddish light from the tent above them illuminated them in a strange, almost dream-like fashion.

"Three, two, one, showtime!"

Feliciano spun around, struck a pose that could only be described as childish, and smiled, showing big white teeth. His auburn hair shone in the sunlight, showing off his bouncy curl that swayed when he moved. The outfit he wore, though ragged and barren, showed off his creamy skin and petite figure, pink cheeks emphasized by the cute pose and bright grin.

"Ciao~!"

As soon as he spoke, around a dozen rumbling sighs erupted from the audience, as well as several full blown squeals. "He's my favorite!" Somebody whispered, earning a few giggles from the audience.

"My name's Feliciano Vargas! My favorite things in the whole world are my big brother, pasta, and all of _you!"_

Beside him, Lovi whipped around, plastered on a smile, winked, and blew a kiss to the audience.

"I'm Lovino Vargas! I always stick with my brother! We're a package deal!"

With a small grimace, Lovino pecked his brother on the cheek, causing a pink blush to blossom. Feliciano grabbed his hands and swung him around, pressing close, cheek to cheek.

"I'm sorry." He whispered under his breath, causing Lovi to nod. They turned to face the audience, smiles as big as suns.

"Asking price is $100,000!"

At this, the crowd drew back a little, but still showered kisses and love upon the poor boys. They broke apart, Feliciano waving, Lovino crossing his arms and smirking, before they joined hands and ran offstage, Lovino's smile dropping like a brick as soon as he was out of sight of the audience.

"Ugh, that's so annoying. I _hate_ that act. Who came up with that again."

"You did, Lovi. You said it was a good idea to prevent us from being separated." Feli murmured, biting his lip.

Oh, right.

"Anyway, we have an hour before the Exhibition, so we should relax. Well, as much as we can relax in this hellhole." Lovi yawned, plopping down on the floor in the middle of a crowd of pretty boys and girls. "Whatever you say, fratello." Feli sat next to him, nuzzling into his shoulder. They watched as one by one, the misfit Perfects presented themselves on stage, outfits ragged but faces groomed. Yong Soo, the energetic youngster with endless charm. Raivis, the shaking little mouse who just wanted somebody to love. All of them coveted, all of them pricey.

"Exhibition's starting!" Lovino heard that dreaded voice ring in his ears, causing him to stand and move along with the swarm toward the back of the tent, always holding his brother's hand in case he lost him.

He hated the glass cases they were always forced into after the "show". They were pretty good quality, but they were cramped, almost no room for one, much less two. Most of the perfects had petite, cute body figures, like Raivis, but others were quite cramped.

The cages were basic. A glass box on a small wooden base, much like a terrarium at a zoo. A pair of locking glass doors in the back, to which only the owner of this sick zoo had the key. They slept in these things, like animals. The extent that they were treated was disgusting. It didn't matter if they were fed daily, or not at all, their bodies stayed fit and, to some extent, healthy. If a Perfect was anorexic, they could throw up every night and see their missing weight bounce back after one day. No marks would appear from mistreatment, malnourishment, or dehydration. For all the customers knew, those people were sleeping in feather beds and eating five course-meals every night.

In reality, things weren't so easy.

After everybody was settled in their cages, the customers came flooding in.

Lovi was astonished at how many girls came right up to their cage, hair flying in tufts around their head, smiles bright and blushes clearly evident. Feli always played them up, waving and blushing back, while Lovi sent them smirks and winks, leaning back on his palms in a bored fashion.

They were all so disfigured, scars marking once clear skin and eyes clouded over. But they were so _happy,_ singing and blushing and laughing.

Maybe not being Perfect was the price to pay for true happiness.

Lovi looked around the room, noticing all the other Perfects for what seemed like the first time. Raivis was being handed over to a large man with a fanged smile, the small boy shaking as the larger man ruffled his mop of unruly brown curls. Tino was also going through a transaction, his owner being another large man wearing a long blue coat, his eyes pupiless and vacant.

 _Why is every buyer so scary?_

He was jolted out of his thoughts by a tapping sound on the glass. Lovi was about to mouth something cute about tapping on the cage disturbing the fish, but when he saw the figure staring at him through the soundproof glass, all thoughts vacated his mind and he was left gaping.

The man's eyes were shockingly green, he noticed that first. Not the assorted patches of red marking his tan skin, or the chocolatey brown curls piled atop his head, nor the thousand-megawatt smile he was directing straight at Lovino. Feliciano waved excitedly at the newcomer, but he ignored him, instead focusing on trying to get Lovi to notice him.

And notice he did.

"Hey, he's not paying attention to me!" Feli whined. Lovi also ignored his _fratellino,_ trying to think of something to say to this new man. He was going to blow him a kiss or something, but then he looked over at Feli, who was doing everything in his power to try and attract this guy's attention.

Instead, he mouthed, "Oi, bastard, quit staring at me, you idiot. Look at my brother if you want somebody to notice you."

The man looked shocked, almost hurt. He walked away from the cage and began to talk to one of the officials.

"Well done, jackass. You've gotten us in trouble." Lovino said out of the corner of his mouth.

"Eh?! You were the one who cursed at him!" Feli shrieked, crossing his arms and cheeks puffing up like the cutest chibi you've ever seen. This attracted squeals from all the girls surrounding the cage. "Look, they're fighting!"

Lovi sighed, ruffling Feli's hair. "I'm sorry, I'm just kinda flustered right now. I always get flustered at Exhibition times." Feli smiled, and threw his arms around the taller one of the two. "I forgive you, my sweet brother!" This caused no endless cooing from the girls, and Lovi's cheeks blushed red. He glanced back over at the guy with the green eyes, who seemed to be arguing with the boss of the establishment.

"We're screwed." Lovi said simply. "Boss is here."

Feli whimpered when Boss finally threw up his hands and stormed over to the cage, fumbling with the keys. He unlocked the door and threw it open. Lovi swore mentally. He grabbed Feli's hand, but Boss stopped him.

"No. Just that one."

 **Hi! So, this is my new dystopian AU, 'All Our Imperfections' (in case the title didn't give it away XD) I just want to clear up a few details about some things in the story:**

 **There are two main companies that sell Perfects, a big corporation called Objective, who specializes in business/rounding up and selling Perfects (kinda like a dog pound), while YourShow Productions focuses more on using the Perfects for entertainment, prices are higher, but the products often are better conducted than if bought from Objective (quality over quantity). YourShow mostly offers up personality, but Objective is the closest to a sex slave industry. That said, Objective usually treats the Perfects better while in captivity (three meals and an actual bed) while YourShow is rather brutal (two meals and sleeping in the cages).**


	2. Chapter 2

"E-eh?!" Feliciano shrieked, clutching on to Lovi's arm like it was his lifeline. "Why just him?"

Boss shrugged. "He agreed to pay extra to only take the eldest. $20,000 extra, actually." He grabbed Lovi by the arm and yanked him out of the cage, shutting the door on Feli before he could regain his grip. Feli screamed, his eyes brimming with tears and mouth open as wide as it could go, but nobody could hear him.

"Bring him back!" He yelled, not seeming to believe the scene that was playing out right before his eyes. Lovi began to cry too, not that he'd ever admit it, trying to push himself out of his Boss' arms and reach his brother again. He'd live in a cage, he wouldn't eat for weeks, just give him back his brother!

He soon felt himself being pushed, backwards, into the arms of somebody rather strong. Whoever it was wrapped their arms around him, pulling him closer and crushing the air from his lungs. "We've already completed the transaction." Boss smirked, reaching for something from his belt. He unhooked a long strip of leather and placed it around Lovi's neck, tightening it until he almost couldn't breathe. A collar.

"So he doesn't run away." Boss explained, handing the "leash" to the mysterious man. " _Gracias,_ sir."

"No problem. Please, enjoy." Lovino hated the smug smile on his former captor's face as he went away to take care of another business transaction. He glanced over to his brother's cage, and his heart snapped in two as he saw the look on his brother's face. He mouthed, "I love you, bastard", before his leash was tugged playfully and he was forced to look at the man who had torn him apart from his brother.

Those green eyes, paired with that playful smile, made his entire body course with a feeling he wasn't used to. He hated it, this unknown feeling that made his whole body shake.

"Come on, we've got to go home." The man started off towards the exit, Lovi in tow. He didn't look back once. He didn't want to. Seeing that look again would cause him to break down crying right then and there.

...

Matthew didn't like the look of his new 'master'.

His white hair and bright red eyes were very off-putting, as was the greedy look on his face whenever Matthew moved.

"Are you going to stare at me all day, or are we going to go to...wherever we're going?"

The man stood up, shook his head like a waterlogged animal, and took hold of the stupid black rope that served as Matthew's leash.

"Right, yes, come on." He pulled a few times, causing Matthew to yelp, then scowl. "I can walk by myself." _Idiot._ He thought, smirking as the albino blinked a few times in confusion.

"S-sorry, I just thought-"

"It's okay. Drop it." Matthew walked next to him, matching him in pace. Slow, even strides opposed to quick, tiny steps.

"I'm Gilbert Beilschmidt, by the way. The _awesome_ Gilbert Beilschmidt."

 _Conceited._

"You're totally gonna love it at my house, I have a special room all set up for you!"

 _Braggart._

"What do you things eat? Do you, like, eat only vegetables or something? Do you guys go on diets?"

 _Completely and utterly stupid._

"I like most foods, though I've had pancakes once or twice, and that seems to be my favorite." Matthew said through gritted teeth. Trust his luck, he had to end up with a pervert _and_ an idiot for an owner.

"Cool! I'll make some of those sometime! Hey, have you ever been in a car before?"

 _Thoughtless._

"Yes, Gilbert, I have indeed been in a car."

"Oh, sorry! Here, get in the passenger seat! I wanna sit right next to you!"

The car that Gilbert owned was sleek, a machine of precision. Cherry red, Matthew really hadn't seen anything so _flashy._ He stood staring at it for a while, wondering why in the hell anybody would want a bright red car.

"Oi! _Vögelchen!_ " The harsh shouting from the man in the car jolted Matthew from his stupor. "Are you going to stare at my car all day, or are we going to go home?" Matthew scowled as Gilbert smirked, watching the blonde slip into the seat behind him.

"What does _vögelchen_ mean anyway?" Matthew's tongue wasn't used to the german word.

"Birdie. Hey, do you mind if I call you Birdie?"

"I suppose I don't..." Matthew shrugged. "It's a rather childish nickname." "I'm a rather childish guy." Gilbert stuck out his tongue, stepping on the gas.

 _Very childish._

"Do you have a favorite hobby?"

No reply. Gilbert groaned. Making conversation was going to be harder than he thought.

"Favorite animal?"

Nothing. Just a sigh.

"What was your life like before this?" Gilbert snarled, his hands fastening around the steering wheel. Matthew just stared out the window, drumming his fingers on the upholstery.

"I had a brother." He said finally, startling Gilbert. "His name was Alfred."

"What happened to him?"

Matthew refused to look at Gilbert. "Why did you purchase me?"

"Well, you looked like you were having a bad time, up there on that stage, all alone." Gilbert smirked. "You look my type. _Adorable_ body, plump cheeks, wavy hair, and that _sweet_ blush!" Gilbert paused from his driving to poke Matthew in the nose, causing said blush to blossom into a pretty pink flower.

"Besides, now you belong to _me_ , doncha? Don't think I'm gonna let you go any time soon." A chill went down Matthew's spine after hearing Gilbert say that, slightly creeped out by the tone of those words. "Anyways, you're totally gonna love my buddies! I live with two other guys, Francis and Antonio! They look kinda weird, but don't hold it against them! We've all been saving up to buy one of you guys for years! Francis is still saving, the one he's had his eye on is very pricey! That kinda thing didn't matter for Antonio, he earns so much because he's so handsome and charming! He headed to another agency across town, I don't know exactly what it was called, I hope he found something cool!"

Matthew listened to this idiot chatter on and on, anger slowly brewing in his stomach as the "conversation" went on. Finally, he put his hands around Gilbert's neck, ignoring all the training he'd had about "not disobeying his masters" and "going with the flow".

"I am a human being." Matthew said calmly, his fingers digging into the pale flesh. "Not an object."

With a screech of the tires, Gilbert pulled the car over to the curb, hitting the brakes with speed Matthew thought wasn't possible for humankind. They slid over to the side of the pavement, ignoring the scathing looks from people muttering about "drivers these days". Gilbert turned to face Matthew, formally goofy red eyes filled with something strange and dangerous. He undid his seatbelt and slowly, but deliberately, climbed into Matthew's seat. He gripped Matthew by the shoulders, fingernails digging into the paper-thin skin and the ragged clothing he wore. "That was a rather bad thing you did just then, _vögelchen_." The poor blonde's eyes dilated in fear, and he backed up against the interior door. The albino's hand stroked Matthew's cheek, a scary expression highlighting his features.

"I think I may need to punish you for what you did just then."

Matthew bowed his head. "I'm sorry..." He swallowed his pride and forced himself to utter the last word needed, "...master."

Gilbert looked satisfied, and he climbed back into the front seat, restarting the car. "No matter what you are, you are still _mine._ And don't you forget it."

Matthew sighed, slumping back into his seat. He had narrowly escaped something bad, and he knew it. He hoped that this wasn't just the eye of the storm.

 **Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!**

 **-Aria**


	3. Chapter 3

Feliciano was lonely.

He missed the warmth of his brother curled up against him during the nights, the hard ones where Boss beat him and made Lovi watch, or vice versa. Lovi always was able to make the worst nights okay, simply by being there.

And now he wasn't.

The cold of the cage was biting, nipping him down to his very bones. He didn't ever remember being this cold, never ever. He didn't like it. Not at all.

He almost didn't register the feeling of Boss grabbing his leg, shaking him awake.

"E-eh? What-"

"Get up and shut your filthy mouth. You're being donated. If you say anything, I swear to god I will shoot you."

Feli knew when it was wise to shut up. He was smarter than he looked. He stood quiet as two metal rings were placed around his wrists, a gag wrapped around his mouth that smelled like something strong and metallic. He was tugged along blindly, out of the circus tent he had spent most of his life in and down a few dozen back alleys.

"Hold very still." Feli cried out as what felt like a red hot needle was inserted into his arm. It burned for a few seconds, and then his eyelids slid shut and he lost consciousness.

...

The next time he awoke, it was in another cage.

This one was a lot bigger, (thank god, he thought), built into the wall instead of elevated, and it was currently occupied by another being. Feli drank in all the details of this new person; new people were always fun! Tousled blonde hair, startling green eyes, two caterpillars above those eyes, a rumpled black suit and messy tie.

"You're the new kid, hm?"

Feli startled, he wasn't expecting to hear him speak. A british accent was quite prominent in his words, and the tired energy contained in them showed he had basically given up on life.

"Y-yes, I'm Feliciano." He stuck out his hand, expecting the man to take it. Instead, the brit just stared at the brunette with an exhausted scowl.

"You looked a wreck when they brought you in here. Your hair was greasy, you were crying in your sleep. Quite the mess."

Feliciano brought a puzzled hand up to his brown locks and ruffled them, surprised to find them silky soft. They had been bathed before, but it was usually just standing over a jet of ice-cold water for five minutes.

Sometimes they let people in to watch.

"That was nice of them." Feli plastered on a smile and retracted his hand. "Why am I here? They took me away in the middle of the night and-"

"You were donated." The other explained, his tone shifting from tired to exasperated. "You weren't performing up to expectations, so they got rid of you. This is a museum. People pay to come in and stare at you. The treatment's a lot better, though. Get used to staying here for a long, long time."

"No!" Feli shrieked, causing the man to jump. "I need to get out of here and find my brother!"

"There's no point. Once somebody's purchased, there's no way the person who bought them's giving them up."

Feliciano knew that, in his heart, but he thought that if he repeated it enough times, maybe it would change. Maybe that strange man would return, and he would bring Lovi back, and everything would be fine.

"I'm Arthur, by the way." The blonde grumbled, rolling his eyes at Feli's angsty whining. "Thanks for asking."

"I want my brother back."

Arthur groaned. "You idiot. Can't you get it through your head? Your brother's gone! He's not coming back! God, all you newbies are so stupid! It drives me absolutely insane!" The harsh words seeped through the small cracks of Feli's lie, that Lovi would come for him, and pierced his fragile heart with the truth.

Lovi wasn't coming back.

"I know." Feli hunched over, tears finally allowed to flow from his eye sockets. "I know, and it hurts so much." Arthur finally realized the severity of his outburst and hunched next to Feli, trying to wipe away his tears.

"Don't cry, look, I'm sorry, I have a hot temper, please, stop crying..."

His pleas were in vain, for Feli kept weeping. His new clothes, the pressed white shirt and black pants, stained with tears and salt. Finally, after what seemed like hours, his tear ducts stemmed and he couldn't cry anymore. "I'm sorry, Artie, I'm a mess of emotions right now." He straightened, wiped his tears, and tried his best to smile. "It's okay, everybody cries on their first night here. I did, I know that much." Arthur patted Feli on the back, reassuring him.

"So, what's life like here?" Feli said, anxious to change the topic. Arthur groaned. "Comparing to the other businesses out there, it's pretty good. We still sleep in these glass cages, but the food's prime, and the attendants are really nice. The worst part is the people. They pay money just to watch us breathe, essentially. There are placards underneath these cages, explaining how old we are and how much we're going for."

"We're still for sale?" Feli felt his heart sink. Just when he thought he was safe from those horrible perverts Lovi had told him about. Arthur nodded.

"Apparently Perfects for sale in this twisted place are 'the cream of the crop', the best of the bunch, so prices are a lot higher, but people are still more willing to buy. The cheapest I've seen somebody go for is around $70,000."

"Wow! That's really expensive!" Feli exclaimed, eyes as big as saucers. "That's the cheapest? Who's being sold for that much?"

Arthur sighed. "Me. Apparently I have attitude problems, so I never stayed at one place for long." Feli nodded.

"Nobody really wanted me either, because I was exclusively sold with my brother. But then some evil person paid extra so he could only take my brother, and not me. I know that sounds stupid, but it's what happened." Feliciano said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We can talk about this later. It's lunchtime."

"E-eh!? I was out for that long?"

"Whatever they stabbed in your arm surely did a number on you." Feli groaned, suddenly noticing how hungry he was.

"How do they give us lunch?"

As if to answer, a smiling woman with scales covering half of her face walked toward them, holding a tray covered with a cloth. She knelt toward the lower half of the glass box and pushed open a small opening, about the width of a large mailbox and the length exactly right for the tray to fit. She pushed the overloaded platter into the cage and shut the flap, beaming at them. Feliciano wasn't used to this nice treatment, so he smiled shyly back and gave a little finger wave. This elicited a giggle from the sweet blonde, who waved back and turned on her heel, stylish dress swishing as she exited the room. Feli stared at her, then looked around the small chamber. Theirs was the only cage in sight.

"Are we the only ones here?" He inquired, staring at the light orange walls.

"Yep, afraid so." Arthur replied, pulling the cloth off of the buckling tray. Feli gave a cry of delight when he saw all the good food that lay there; back when he was a sideshow attraction, all he really got to eat was bread and a few stale pieces of meat, sometimes cheese if it had been a good day. But this...this was something else. There was bread, but instead of being thin and brown and stale, this was white, thick and spread with butter. There were two small bowls filled with a red jelly, and two plates of noodles with a red sauce. Arthur whistled. "She really went all out, this is one of the nicest meals I've seen in weeks."

"What's the normal food here like?"

"Oatmeal with sugar, toast, some meat, fruit, enough to give us our vitamins and minerals, not too lavish." Arthur grabbed silverware and tossed it to Feli, who barely avoided an unhealthy encounter involving his stomach and a sharp fork. Arthur pulled the plate of noodles into his lap and began to eat, his manners surprisingly neat, considering the circumstances. Feli couldn't get the food down fast enough, splattering sauce all over his chin and down the front of his shirt. Arthur winced.

"Eat slower, you're going to make yourself sick. Look at your shirt!"

Feli looked down at himself. "Oops." Arthur groaned, mentally facepalming at the brunette's lack of manners. "They give us a change of clothes every day. See that door?" He pointed to a small door built into the wall, barely visible.

"It leads to a small, private room where we can change privately. There's a shower in there too."

"Oh. That's really nice of them."

'The clothing is delivered the same way as the food. Really, living here isn't so bad, except for the perverts who stare at us all the damn time. There's this one guy, he could be a Perfect, but he's missing an eye; he comes every day to look at me. It's very subtle, he doesn't come in and ogle, but I can see him, ever so subtly, watching me from the doorway. He must know somebody inside the museum, otherwise he wouldn't be able to pay for the admission price everyday. Ten dollars every day would suck all the money out of your wallet." Arthur ranted, waving his fork around in animated gestures as he talked.

"Why do you think he's stalking you?" Feli sucked another noodle through his lips and wiped a stray droplet of sauce off his chin.

"How should I know? I don't have access to the inner workings of perverted minds!" Arthur wound the last mouthful of food around his fork and stuffed it in his mouth, chewing furiously. Feli had already finished his, and he picked up a spoon and the small bowl of jelly. When he prodded it with his silverware, it .

"Is this safe to eat? I've never eaten any food that's...jiggly."

Arthur nodded, sticking the spoon in his own rations. "It's fine. Tastes a little bit artificial, but it's perfectly edible." Feliciano cautiously prodded the surface, watching it wiggle back and forth in the small clamshell cup. He scooped a little, with the delicate care of a detective taking a DNA sample, and put it to his lips.

"I like it!" He proclaimed, letting it dissolve on his tongue. "A lot!" Arthur burst into peals of laughter at this, wiping tears out of his eyes. "You're so innocent, Feli!"

Feli cocked his head, blinked a few times, and took another spoonful of jelly. "Anyway, the museum opens in, like, five minutes, so choke down your dessert and be prepared for a lot of nosy perverts."

"Sounds weird." Feli shoveled the food into his mouth at an alarming rate, a few droplets spilling out of his overcrowded mouth and landing on his collar. Arthur winced.

"Honestly, people are going to be repulsed with you if you keep eating so sloppily." Feli looked sheepish, carefully placing the last spoonful in his mouth. "Well, being well-mannered now's not going to help!"

...

 _Of all the possible customers, I end up with an idiot._

Lovi scowled, sitting cross-legged in the back of his new owner's yellow VW Beetle, leash tied to one of the seat's headrests.

"So, your name's Lovi, si?" The ridiculously cheerful man's voice is like a kindergarten teacher's, all soft edges and blurred lines. Lovi can tell he's smiling, even from here.

"First of all, fuck you. Second, why the fuck did you tear me away from my brother?"

"Because I liked you best!" The smile only widens. "Well guess what, fuckface? He's probably going to die there, alone. He won't eat, drink, he'll probably decompose there in that cage. I've been a permanent figure all his life, probably the only thing he expected to stay permanent, and now you've taken me away from him." Lovi's face reddened in his anger, steam practically hissing out of his ears. The man was silent for a few seconds, and Lovi scowled.

 _Serves you right_.

He expected the next words to come out of his mouth would be, "I'm sorry!" or "I'll take you straight back!"

Instead, "Aw! You look like a tomato!"

Lovi was taken aback. "Are you fucking kidding me?" The man nodded, then paused. "Oh! I'm such an idiot!"

 _Yes, you are! Take me back, now!_

"I've forgotten to tell you my name!"

 _Godammit._

"I'm Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo! Most people call me Antonio, or Toni, cuz my name's so long." The man turns around in his seat and beams straight at him, that blinding smile directed right into Lovi's honey-brown eyes. "Keep your eyes on the road, dumbass." The man's smile dropped a little, and he wagged his finger.

"Naughty, naughty! Don't speak to me like that again, or I'll have to punish you!" He wetted his lips slightly, as if relishing the fact that his little purchase might...act up. Lovino paled.

 _The stories were true. Fuck._

"Good boy!" Antonio turned back around and pressed his foot to the gas pedal, leaving Lovi splayed across the back seat.

"So, I live in a big house with..um, three others! Maybe five now, since you're coming, and my friend's recently bought somebody too. Um, there's Gilbert, he's the friend I was talking about, and Francis! He's kind of a pervert, but you can ignore that if you get to know him a little bit better! Ludwig is Gilbert's little brother, he's really big! Um, not in that way, but he's, like, six foot two! Again, not in that way. He can pick up Gilbert, and throw him over his shoulder! I've seen him do it a bunch of times!"

 _Oh my god, will you please shut up?_

"I've got a bedroom all set up for you, the bed is really comfy and fluffy, and I almost fell asleep on it a couple of times...I hope you like it!" Lovi clapped his hands over his ears and squinched his eyes shut in an effort to block out his owner's excessive rambling. It had been a few minutes when Lovi realized the spaniard wasn't speaking anymore. He opened his eyes to see those damn green eyes staring at him, brows furrowed.

"Are you...ignoring me?"

 _Crap crap crap he's going to punish me what the hell do I do?_

"I...uh..I have a headache! I was trying to get it to stop!" Lovino casted his eyes to the side and tried to look as if his head was hurting.

"No...you were fine earlier...you were ignoring me, weren't you?" Antonio frowned, his worried expression deepening into a scowl. "I don't like being ignored."

"I'm sorry! Just don't touch me!" Lovi raised his hands up to his face, trying to protect himself from the furious beating he was so damn sure he was about to receive. Instead, there was only silence, and the car accelerating.

"Huh?"

"Your punishment can wait until we get home. I don't want to crash the car." The brunette decided, eyes focusing on the road. He didn't speak for the rest of the trip.

 _Shit._

 _ **Hello, readers! So, there were some major formatng issues with this chapter, I had to replace and update it, like, three times. I'm sorry for missing the update date, I just got back from Washington DC at around...12? Which is three in the morning in DC time. The only thing I could do was sleep! Anyways, I hope you liked this long alter to make up for it!**_


	4. Chapter 4

"Here we are! Your new home!" Gilbert turned to face the blonde, grinning. "You like? Cost a lot, but it was totally worth it!"

Matthew looked up at the looming house above him. "It's certainly...big." "Yeah, it has to be, to fit four people plus you and the other newbie!" Gilbert slid out of the front seat and went to open Matthew's door for him, his smile showing pointed teeth. "We've gotta get you cleaned up, I've got a new change of clothes for you, and then you can have something to eat!" Matthew gingerly took Gilbert's hand and nodded. "Sounds good to me...thank you."

"Don't mention it. You look a mess." Gilbert wrinkled his nose. "Smell like one too." Matthew blushed, and pulled away slightly, causing the albino's grin to grow. "Aw, you're such a fucking cutie!" Without warning, he pecked a kiss on Matthew's cheek. "My cutie." Matthew stuttered and demanded an explanation, but Gilbert was already pulling him towards the large staircase. "C'mon, _vögelchen!"_

Matthew followed him, legs about as steady as a baby deer. He tripped over his own feet climbing up the stairs, still being pulled along by Gilbert's hand like a string toy.

"Not...so fast..." He crumpled on the last step, catching his breath. Gilbert stared at him, giggles bubbling up from his throat. "You look so cute, birdie! You don't even know." He scooped him up, earning a small squeak from the indignant blonde, and carried him across the porch, the door already unlocked.

"Franny, I'm home! And I brought a friend!" Matthew was carried through a maze of corridors and doorways until they reached a brightly lit room, full of the smell of simmering vegetables. Standing at the kitchen counter was a trim man, blonde hair rippling in waves down to the middle of his neck, skin seemingly unmarked.

"Is he another Perfect?" Matthew whispered to himself, watching the stranger chop up a bloody piece of meat.

"Oh, is this the one you were sent out to buy today?" The man turned, and Matthew gasped. Where normally a person's right eye would be, there was only a swollen socket, sewed together with lavender thread.

"It's okay, I know it looks weird. Everybody isn't used to it at first. Normally, I'd be wearing my eye patch, but it's so itchy I thought I could go without it for the afternoon." The man complained, smirking. "I'm Francis. Francis Bonnefoy."

"This is Birdie! I mean, Mattie. Matthew. Isn't he cute?!" Gilbert slung an arm around Francis' shoulder and laughed, red eyes meeting Matthew's purple ones. " _Oui,_ he seems very strong. I can't wait to see what fun you have with this one." Francis wetted his lips, causing a shiver to go up Matthew's spine.

"Me too. But keep your perverted thoughts out of the kitchen, I don't want the stew tasting bad." Gilbert let go of his friend and strolled over to Matthew. "Anyway, c'mon. I need to get you cleaned up and show you your bedroom." Matthew nodded, glad to be rid of the creepy blonde man who seemed a little too eager to get to the bedroom part of the introduction. Gilbert pushed Matthew out of the doorway first, then whipped around to face Francis. He drew a line across his throat, scowling. Francis made a "two palms up" gesture, then sighed and turned back to the stew. Gilbert smirked, then turned back to the more urgent matter at hand.

"This way." Gilbert took Mattie's leash in his hand (up till now it had dangled uselessly, forgotten) and tugged on it a few times. They crossed through more hallways and up a flight of stairs, crossing four rooms where one wall was made entirely of glass. Gilbert stopped in front of one, pointing.

"This one's your room." Matthew was stunned. Besides one wall being see-through, the furnishings were exquisite. The bed, a four-poster, was covered in a blue duvet, the sheets being a light yellow (which matched the pillows, which matched the drapes hanging from the bed in layers of wispy fabric). There were two dressers on each side, and a large bookshelf spanned one of the walls. There was a fluffy carpet on the floor, and an armchair lay to the right side of the bed. The primary color scheme was blue, with yellow accents here and there.

"Do you like it?" Gilbert questioned, a worried look apparent on his face. Matthew nodded. "I love it. Thank you." This caused Gilbert's face to light up, red eyes changing color, ever so subtly, from a dull garnet to a vibrant crimson.

"But why are one of the walls glass?" Matthew questioned, cocking his head to the side. Gilbert looked confused.

"So I can always see you. Why else?"

Before Matthew had time to be confused, Gilbert had grabbed the _goddamn leash again_ and was pulling him towards a new room. As they flashed past, Matthew could see that the other glass walled rooms looked quite different, though the color scheme always involved yellow.

"Here we go!" Gilbert pushed Matthew inside and flipped the lights on, illuminating his surroundings. The bathroom was also beautifully furnished, with a large circular bathtub lined with bottles and a separate shower. There was also a private changing room, and a porcelain sink. When Matthew looked closer, he could see that the taps were gold.

"You must be very..." Matthew racked his brain for the right word. _Rich? Gaudy? Foolish?_ "...generous, to share all this with me." He looked down at his feet, shuffling back and forth. Gilbert waved off the accusation like it was nothing. "Psh, you deserve it! Now, I'm gonna run a bath. You go get undressed. You okay with bubbles?"

"Bubbles?" Matthew was confused. "You mean like the toy?" Gilbert sighed. "No, a bubble bath. You'll like it, I promise. Now, go get ready."

Matthew stumbled into the adjoining room, closing the door and locking it. He began to undress, looking down at all the small marks the fading bruises left on his chest and torso. He looked around awkwardly for something to cover himself, then saw white robes lining the walls on hangers. He grabbed one, tying the sash around his waist. It was surprisingly fluffy, and the texture felt soothing on his battered body. He unlocked and opened the door, nervously shuffling out into the open. He gasped when he saw Gilbert bent over two of the gold taps in the bath, twisting them to allow water to flow.

"Oi, _vögelchen,_ what's wrong?"

"Y-you're not wearing a shirt."

Matthew wasn't disgusted by this sight, in fact, he secretly liked it. Gilbert did have some nice muscles, and the fact the room was filling with steam and causing small droplets of sweat to bead only emphasized this fact. Gilbert frowned.

"Hate to break it to you, Mattie, but you can't wear clothes in the bath."

"You're coming in with me?"

Gilbert nodded. "Sure. Why not?" Matthew blushed and turned to stare at the circular bathtub, unable to meet the albino's eyes. The bathwater was frothy, only accelerated by the pink liquid Gilbert was adding to it. Soft bubbles bedecked the surface, giving off a smell Matthew wasn't used to. It smelled like peace. Also, strawberries. His gaze cast downwards to his feet. He was about to say something when he heard a small splash. He looked up again to see the albino's head peeking up from a mountain of bubbles; a few were piled atop his head.

"Come on, in you get. I won't look." Gilbert covered his eyes while Matthew untied the robe and let it fall to the floor. He slowly slipped into the bathtub, pleased by the feeling of the bubbles. They were fluffy, and the strawberry smell was almost overpowering.

"You can look now." He said softly, and Gilbert let his hands drop. "I'll wash your hair for you."

"No, it's fine, I can do it myself." Matthew's eyes widened at the offer of help, but Gilbert put one finger to his lips. "I'll do it. Come over here." Matthew sighed, and pushed off the side of the wall over to Gilbert, who beckoned him into his arms. His body was soft but sturdy, and his arms enfolded around the anxious blonde.

"C'mere. Don't be scared."

Gilbert could feel Matthew's tense muscles knot under his skin, but when he gently splashed water over his wavy hair, the knots unraveled. Gilbert searched along the countertop of the bath to find shampoo and conditioner, knocking aside various bottles to get what he needed. Once he found it, he poured a sizable amount of the pink liquid into his palm and started rubbing his hands through Matthew's tousled locks. Matthew let out a little sigh in pleasure as Gilbert massaged his scalp, letting the rose scented perfume mingle with the strawberry bubbles and drift throughout the room. He let out a little squeak when Gilbert's hands started scratching gently, trying to remove the layer of dirt that had accumulated there after a long time.

"Did they ever bathe you at that place?" Gilbert smirked, as he inspected his (now black) fingernails. "Sometimes...mostly it was just them leaving us under a freezing cold jet for two minutes." Matthew blushed, embracing the warmth of Gilbert's embrace and the foamy water. "Poor thing." The albino fussed and clucked his tongue, like a mother hen. "Don't worry. I will _never_ treat you like that." Matthew felt his blush grow as he realized Gilbert was peppering kisses to the base of his neck. He decided to appeal to him, just for a thank-you. "M-master..." Gilbert stopped immediately, leaving Matthew feeling colder than before. "Don't call me that, unless I tell you to." Matthew nodded, the happy blush fading to an embarrassed one. "Yes..." Matthew searched for a nickname. "...Gilly."

"Gilly. I like that." Gilbert trailed his hands down Matthew's sides, causing the blonde to shiver. "Heh, let me finish washing your hair first. Then we can take care of this." Gilbert pressed a forefinger to one of Matthew's bruises. He grabbed the other bottle he wanted, this one purple, and poured the liquid straight onto Matthew's head. The cold slick dripping down his locks made it feel like Gilbert broke an egg atop his scalp. The blonde again relaxed into Gilbert's strong grip, letting him run his fingers down the yellow strands to massage the sweet smelling liquid into them. It felt nice, this kind of contact that wasn't a furious beating or a pitiful-hand on-shoulder.

 _Maybe...maybe this won't be so bad._

"Oi, birdie." Matthew was startled out of his reverie by Gilbert tapping him lightly on the shoulder. "I've finished. Do you want to get out and get dressed? Dinner will be done soon, and I don't want the bathwater to get cold while we're both in here."

"Yes, thank you." Matthew felt his back his the cold porcelain as Gilbert pushed off, climbing out of the bath and pulling on Matthew's discarded robe. He turned around with a wink, tying the sash closed. "Get yourself outta the tub and I'll bring you some clothes and a hot drink." "Okay." Gilbert left the room, leaving Matthew alone, he clambered out of the bathtub, heading back into the changing room to pull on a new robe. He sat on the floor for a few seconds, running his hands through his wet hair.

 _He doesn't seem mean...or lusty. Maybe the rumors were false..._

But then he remembered the moment in the car. His face had seemed so dangerous, as if he wanted nothing more than to punish the misbehaving Perfect.

 _I need to tread carefully._

Besides his little episode earlier, Matthew really liked Gilbert. Not to mention, his looks certainly added a lot to the package. He actually seemed really nice, with the bath and the bedroom. The glass wall, though, was slightly disturbing.

"I'm back!" Gilbert burst through the door, spilling a couple drops of the drink he was holding on the tiled floor. Matthew was startled out of his thinking by this loud entrance, but it was a welcome distraction. "Here, I brought you some hot chocolate." Gilbert handed the mug to Matthew, who stared at the liquid inside like it was poison. "Hot...chocolate?" "Yeah. It's sweet. Try it." Matthew lifted the mug to his lips and sipped. It was just a little too hot, but sugary and milky, almost too much so. He enjoyed it immensely. "Thank you. It's good."

"I'll put these clothes in the changing room. Francis left, to go to some stupid museum or something. Toni should be home soon."

"Okay."

"I'll go downstairs and start serving dinner."

"Okay." Matthew took another sip of the warm drink, letting the heat seep through his body. "You go get dressed now." Gilbert nudged him on the shoulder, and Matthew took this as a cue to stand and take the bundle of clothing Gilbert had draped over his arm. Gilbert smiled, pressed a kiss to his cheek, and left the room, leaving Matthew alone with a burning cheek. Then he collected himself and walked into the dressing room, inspecting the clothes. They seemed pretty simple, a long sleeve, button up white shirt, a blue vest, and fitted black pants. They were slightly big on Matthew's slender frame, but he knew he'd grow into them. He took the cup of hot chocolate and headed out of the bathroom, trying to find his way back to the kitchen.

By the time he had maneuvered his way through the endless hallways, his hot chocolate was cold.

"Ah, Birdie, so nice of you to finally make it." Gilbert smirked, pushing a bowl of chunky stew towards him. Matthew sat down next to him and accepted it, unsure of what to try first out of the gravy-covered lumps in the bowl. Eventually he chose two of the smallest, which turned out to be a chunk of perfectly cooked meat and a potato cube. The savory food melted in his mouth, a big improvement to the lumpy oatmeal he was used to eating back at Objective. He took another spoonful, and then another, until he was choking down the food at an alarming rate. "Whoa, don't make yourself sick!" Gilbert laughed. Matthew just finished chewing, and swallowed. "Thank you, this is amazing."

"Don't thank me, thank Francis."

" _Bruder?_ Who's this?" Matthew was startled by a new voice directly behind him. "T-toni?"

"Luddy!" Gilbert leaped out of his seat and went to hug the stranger, who had slicked back blonde hair and bulging muscles. "Mattie, this is my brother, Luddy."

"Ludwig." The man said stiffly, trying to shake off his brother's aggressive hug. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Matthew just stared. Aside for the (admittedly handsome) looks the newcomer possessed, a large, x-shaped scar ran down the length of his face, starting at his temples and ending at his jawline. "Luddy, this is the new Perfect I bought today! Isn't he cute?!"

"Quite. Is there any stew left or have you eaten it all again?" Gilbert rolled his eyes. " _Ja, ja,_ of course there's some left. I had to leave some for you and Toni and Francis." Ludwig nodded and headed toward the large pot on the stove, spooning some into one of the wooden bowls they used. "So, Gilbert, exactly how much did you pay for...him?"

"Only what I had saved in my personal account, geez. Always the miser."

"Elizaveta and Roderich want you to visit the day after tomorrow."

"Ugh, those two. Fine, but only because I want Mattie to meet some new people." Gilbert took another spoonful of soup and held it out to Matthew. "Say, 'ah'." Matthew, not knowing what else to do, accepted the beckoning offer.

Ludwig looked disgusted.

 **Yes, here are the romantic fluff times you have all been waiting for :3 Thanks to everybody who reviewed, it really makes my day a lot brighter!**

 **-Aria**


	5. Chapter 5

Francis pulled his Lamborghini (lavender, and purchased for cheap) up to the outside of the museum, parking in his usual spot. He had been coming here for so many days, people just stopped questioning why and just left him to his own devices. He pulled the door handle and stepped out, trench coat stylishly falling around his figure and emphasizing the curves so many people envied.

 _You would have been a Perfect...except for that eye._

 _It's the eye that ruins everything._

 _Why'd he have it sewn up? He could have easily been Perfect if he had gotten a replacement._

Truth was, Francis liked his freedom. He had chosen to sew up the empty socket because if he hadn't, he would have gotten a replacement and been sold into slavery. It was so much better, being free, because people could learn to look past the eye. They always did.

He closed the car door and locked it, adjusting the itchy black eye patch he was forced to wear. He could see Michelle from here, her lovely tan skin contrasting with the red slash marks curving up from either side of her lips. It was a pity, really. Always forced to smile, a gruesome sight when not used to it.

"Hello, Francis." Michelle threw her arms around the blonde in a sincere hug, one that he graciously returned. "Hello, Michelle."

"Back to see that grumpy one you care so much about?" She teased, poking him on the nose affectionately. "Yes, I have to admit I do have a soft spot for that one." Francis replied, smiling.

"This way."

Michelle pulled open the chipped blue door to invite Francis inside, closing it behind him.

"He got a new roommate today, a brunette. He's really cute when he's sleeping, he makes a little _ve_ noise when he snores!" Michelle sighed and clasped her hands to her chest dramatically. "A tender soul, yes?"

"Stop being so dramatic, Smiley." Francis used the nickname as one friend does to another, not in the spiteful tone that most people tossed her way.

"I'm wounded! I might actually make you pay admission this time if you cross me!" Michelle warned playfully, waggling her finger. "Dream on, _mademoiselle."_

Michelle slugged Francis in the arm, then pulled open the hidden door that the caretakers used to store food and clothing. "Here we are. Have fun!"

"Thank you, Michelle." Francis slipped through the open doorway and emerged somewhere around the restrooms, shutting the door behind him. He walked casually down the crimson hallway he knew so well to the orange room that housed the object of his desire.

Arthur.

Francis loved everything about the cantankerous blonde man, from his caterpillar eyebrows and striking accent he trusted actually existed. He had forgotten the manner in which the brit actually _spoke,_ but the attendants ensured him that yes, Arthur did speak with an english accent. Quite a charming one too, apparently.

Francis approached the glass and waved, attracting the attention of his obsession. Oh, he had a friend now, how cute! This one was particularly adorable, with plump cherub cheeks, honey-gold eyes, and that strange, yet adorable, curl standing up from one side of his head. He looked confused, like he had just woken up from a long nap, and there was a small blob of jelly in the corner of his mouth.

Francis mouthed a little "hello" which caused the blonde of the two in the cage to furrow his (admittedly quite large; but one could always fix that with a pair of tweezers- or a weedwhacker) and mouthed back _sod off_ before crossing his arms and glaring. Francis merely pouted before going back to observing the other one. He looked absolutely _delicious_ sitting there in that ruffled outfit, even with the food stains down the front, and he was _waving back._ Francis kneeled down to check the plaque with the boy's name and price on it.

 _Feliciano. What an adorable name._

He recoiled, however, when he saw the asking price.

 _$100,000?_

Feliciano placed his hands up against the glass, trying to look down at the stunned frenchman.

"Oh, what's wrong with him?" Feli turned to Arthur, who just scoffed and turned away. "He's just being a big baby. Can't even afford the cheapest one in the bunch so he throws a temper tantrum."

"Ah. Is this the one you were talking about earlier?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Arthur turned around and stuck out his tongue at the blonde man who was now...spinning in circles? Feliciano was confused by this behavior, but then again, he hadn't really been out in the "outside world" much. Maybe this was a courtship display? By the way Arthur was reacting, probably not.

"Just ignore him." Arthur pulled Feli down next to him in order for him to avoid the idiotic man who was now practically skipping out of the building.

"You don't like him very much, do you?" Feli asked, now practically in the englishman's lap. Arthur growled.

"No."

"It could just be repressed sexual tension..."

" _No."_


	6. Chapter 6

**Oh my gosh, I almost forgot about updating! My week has been so busy, I apologize! Please enjoy this chapter!**

Antonio parked the car next to a cherry red Lotus Elise ( _Seriously, what the fuck?_ Lovi thought) and slid out of the driver's seat. He walked around to Lovino's side and pulled the door open, untying the leash and grasping it roughly in his hand. He jerked on it a few times, causing Lovino to come tumbling out of the car. He stood up from his splayed position on the floor, brushed himself off, and allowed himself to be tugged along like a toy boat up the stairs and onto the porch. Antonio fumbled with his keys, dropping them quite a few times. Lovino stifled a chuckle, and Antonio glared at him.

 _Even when he's clumsy, he's still as intimidating as hell._

Antonio unlocked the door and pulled Lovi in, a smile suddenly illuminating his features. "Gil! I'm home!"

"Toni! Just in time! We're having dinner!" A raucous voice called somewhere from the depths of the hallway. Lovi was stunned at how big the house seemed from the inside, but he was determined not to enjoy it.

As long as Feli wasn't here, whatever luxuries this house provided would be as bitter as tasting sand.

"C'mon." Toni pulled on Lovi's leash once again, and Lovi snapped out of his reverie and followed the usually cheerful brunette toward wherever their destination was.

"Did you make dinner, or Francis?" Toni teased, walking through the seemingly endless hallways (which were seriously starting to, in equal parts, confuse and piss off Lovi).

"Don't get your panties in a twist, Francis made it!" The voice seemed closer now, and there was an added undertone of "Don't be so immature". Antonio turned the corner into a brightly lit room, Lovi following blindly.

The speaker from before seemed to be a male sitting at a large table in what appeared to be a kitchen, with white hair and red eyes. Joining him was a smaller, blushing blonde with stunning violet eyes, and a taller, also blonde man with large muscles and piercing blue eyes. He didn't really like the look of that one, he just... threw him off a little bit. He shook off the first impression and crossed his arms, trying to avoid the three piercing gazes. The albino frowned.

"You're still using that thing? The collar?"

"Yep! This one's a feisty little critter!" Antonio smiled, tugging on the collar a few times and nearly choking Lovi. The brunette squeaked in indignation before casting his eyes downward, trying to avoid his 'owner's' gaze.

"Anyway, come eat. Will..." Gilbert trailed off, searching for a name.

"Lovi!" Antonio chirped in response, ruffling the brunette's hair.

"Alright, will Lovi be having anything to eat?"

"No, he's already eaten."

 _What? No, I haven't..._

Lovi turned toward the brunette, confused. Antonio smiled cruelly.

 _Is this my punishment? Oh well, it's better than the alternative._

"Good, more food for the rest of us!" Gilbert patted the chair next to him to invite Antonio to sit down, staring strangely at Lovino. Lovino stared right back.

"Lovino...why don't you go sit over there, next to Mattie?"

Lovino nodded, taking a much needed breath as Antonio released his collar. He carefully walked over to the chair next to the shy blonde and sat, exchanging a whispered greeting. Matthew and the others appeared to be eating a rich stew, the mere smells causing Lovino's mouth to water. Why did he have to act up in the car? If he hadn't, he could be eating _real_ food, not the gruel crap YourShow always forced down their throats.

"Mm, this is very good, Gilbert. Give Francis my regards when he returns." Antonio tipped a spoonful of the fragrant broth into his mouth and smiled, closing his eyes to fully savor the flavor. Lovi heard his stomach rumble, causing Gilbert and Matthew to look at him strangely.

"Are you sure you aren't hungry?"

"He's fine." Antonio shot a glare in Gilbert's direction, and the albino shut up and continued to eat, now suspicious of what Antonio was hiding.

"After dinner, I'll show you to your room, and get you all situated, okay?" Antonio looked at Lovi meaningfully, and Lovi nodded. Anything else would probably mean more punishment.

"Hmm, I've got to go get Mattie settled anyway. Kill two birds with one stone?" Gilbert stood up and walked over to wash his bowl, letting the few leftover potato chunks and specks of gravy slide down the drain in a mix of frothy water.

"Why not?" Antonio also stood, beckoning the two Perfects to follow him. Lovino stood cautiously, following Mattie's lead.

"C'mon, slowpokes!" Gilbert bounded out the door, Matthew in tow, and Antonio following him while grasping Lovi's hand tightly. The two Perfects looked very uncomfortable as the two energetic "masters" pulled them through endless hallways and up mountains of stairs until they finally reached the hallway looking in on the four glass-walled rooms.

"Alright! The blue one is Mattie's, and Lovi, the red one is yours. There's clothing and a pair of pajamas in there for you too."

"Sounds good. Thank you." Matthew said quietly, not wanting to be rude. Lovi said nothing. Gilbert pressed on an almost invisible panel in the middle of the glass, revealing a door. "In you get, _vögelchen."_ The albino gave the smaller blonde a little push in the square of his back, prompting Mattie to enter the gilded cage. Lovi watched as Gilbert followed him, then closed the glass door behind him, locking both of them in.

"This way, Lovinito!" Antonio called, pulling him by the arm.

 _Don't call me that._

Lovino had no choice but to follow, reaching the fourth room in two seconds. Antonio pressed the same spot as before in the wall, leading the other brunette inside. "Why do you trust me with a door like that? Couldn't I just get out?"

"The inside only opens if you have a special key. The key being my fingerprints." Antonio winked and let the door slide shut behind him. Lovino gulped.

 _Guess I really can't escape._

Lovino looked around the spacious interior. It wasn't bad, with a large bed with a red and yellow comforter-sheet combo and three big pillows, a spacious bookcase, a small bedside table, and a pair of chairs and a glass coffee table perched off to the side. A large closet was on the left side of the room, and two large doors, one yellow, one red, were clearly visible next to the bed.

"That leads to my room. If you ever need anything, just ask." Antonio pointed to the yellow door. Lovi nodded. "The red one is a changing room. I've left some pajamas in there for you. I'm going to go get some hot chocolate and snacks."

Lovi nodded mutely. Antonio smiled, and ruffled his hair. "You're a cute one. I'm glad I chose you." He left after that, leaving Lovi alone in the spacious room.

Lovino felt a blaze of white-hot anger wash over him like a wave, licking at his feet and playing over his scalp where Antonio's warm hand had previously been.

 _Why am I so happy? I legally belong to him now. But... it's not like I didn't before._

He sighed, and walked over to the red door. He turned the handle and pulled it open, letting it hit the wall with a loud _bang_. Inside was a plain storage area, a few shelves lining the walls and a pair of red striped pajamas (and underwear) sitting in the middle of the room. Lovi turned around and locked the door before undressing and pulling on the (admittedly comfy) clothing. It was a little bit big for him, but the cotton was soothing on his skin. He gathered up the ragged wool shirt and pants he was wearing and left the room, tripping over the oversized pants a couple of times.

"Aw, you look so cute in those pajamas!" Lovi saw Antonio enter the room, carrying a tray with two steaming mugs and a bowl of stew. He sat down on the bed and prompted the Perfect to join him, patting the puffy red covers beside him.

"Is that food for me?" Lovi asked cautiously.

"Yep! I thought you seemed hungry earlier!" Antonio said, his smile never leaving his face.

 _That sneaky little bastard. Manipulative, too. He's smarter than I took him for._

"Here. Open up!" Antonio held a spoonful of the fragrant broth to Lovi's lips, prompting them open. Lovi ignored it, scoffing. "I can feed myself."

"Nuh-uh. Only way you're getting this is if I feed it to you!" Lovi groaned, then opened his mouth and allowed Antonio to spoon-feed him the delicious soup. It wasn't that bad, granted Toni spilled a few times, the broth trickling out of the side of Lovi's mouth instead of down his throat, but he managed to empty the wooden bowl. His stomach stopped growling and his whole body felt warm inside.

"There, all better?" Antonio smiled, and Lovi nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Good!" Antonio set the tray with the empty bowl and mugs of cooling hot chocolate to the side and pulled Lovi into his lap, taking him by surprise.

"W-what are you doing!"

"Ssh." Antonio nuzzled his face into Lovi's hair, more personal contact then the brunette was used to. Lovi's face turned as red as a cherry, and he started breathing heavily.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Antonio asked, puzzled by the change in behavior.

"I-I'm fine! Just l-let go of me!" Lovino panted, twisting and turning in Toni's stifling grip. Antonio cocked his head to the side.

"I don't want to though. You're quite cuddly."

"Please!" Lovi begged, causing Antonio to drop his arms and allow Lovi to scurry off the bed. "I need to get changed anyway. I hope you don't mind."

He disappeared through the yellow door, allowing Lovi time to breathe.

 _D-dammit! Why is he so fucking touchy?_

Lovi shook his head a few times before climbing back into the comfy bed. His eyelids slid shut and he was in the process of losing consciousness when he felt a pressure on the other side of the bed.

"Why are you here? Don't you have your own bed to sleep in?" Lovi yelled, turning to face the tired master.

"But I want to sleep with you! You're so comfy and cute and-"

"Fine. Whatever. I hope you don't snore." Lovi turned around and faced the wall, groaning when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist.

"Good night, Lovinito!"

Lovi said nothing.


	7. Chapter 7

"Here, Mattie, your pajamas." Gilbert placed a pressed pile of blue and white striped flannel into Matthew's arms. Matthew took it, pressing it to his chest.

"Oh... thanks."

"Go get changed. The blue door is your changing room. The yellow door leads to my awesome sleeping quarters. Don't be afraid to barge in and ask me anything, okay?"

"Sure." Matthew smiled softly before going to change, the flannel feeling warm from the imprints where Gilbert's hands had been. He wasn't used to all the kindness being shown to him by the albino, seeing as his previous owner and all the people at Objective treated him with disdain.

All the things that went on at night at his previous owner's house were not to be spoken of. Matthew wanted to forget the screaming intermingled with shouting, the scent of blood and bodily fluids that was steeped into the carpet and the very walls itself. The muscled forearms that pinned him down as he was thrust into the headboard of his master's bed over and over again.

Maybe things would turn out different this time.

Matthew left the room, clutching the filthy white button-down shirt and black pants he had discarded. Gilbert poked them with a slender forefinger.

"I think we need to burn these, don't you?"

Matthew giggled, before stuffing them into Gilbert's arms. "Here, you take them." Gilbert recoiled and dropped the disgusting things on the floor, staggering back as if they were infected with the bubonic plague.

"Ugh, we'll just take care of them tomorrow."

Matthew watched in fascination as Gilbert removed his shirt, revealing sizable muscles.

 _They're not as big as you-know-who's...but, damn._

"This okay? Me without a shirt?"

"Mm, it's alright. I've seen worse." Matthew teased, sliding under the covers of his gauzy four-poster. Some of the shyness was falling away, and he felt comfortable unleashing some of his flirty side.

"You're cheeky, for somebody in your position." Gilbert jumped onto the bed, landing on his shoulder, and wiggled his way under the covers. He grabbed Matthew by the front of his shirt and twisted, licking his lips.

"Gilbert..." Matthew's flirty facade fell away, replaced by worry and fear. "You w-won't do anything...right?"

"Well, I could..." Gilbert let go of Matthew, who released a pent-up breath, "...but I won't."

"Thanks."

Gilbert ruffled Matthew's hair affectionately. "No problem. Consent is the most important part of a relationship."

Matthew, as a way of thanks, leaned into Gilbert's chest, letting the albino embrace him. "Mmm, you're so warm."

The two sat in silence for a minute, snuggled up against one another.

"Good night, birdie."

"Good night, Gilly."

...

Lovino woke up the next morning on the floor.

His back hurt, there was a sticky wet patch in the corner of his mouth, and the covers were all in a pile on the bed, leaving the spitfire brunette shivering alone on the carpeted (yet still hard as hell) surface of his bedroom floor.

"Good morning Lo- hey, where'd you go?"

"I'm down on the floor, asshole." Lovi sat up and rubbed his eyes like a small child, yawning. "You didn't tell me you tossed and turned in your sleep."

"Oh. Well, I toss and turn in my sleep." Antonio peeked over the corner of the bed, grinning sheepishly. "You look really cute when you sleep. Did you know?"

"W-what?" Lovi glared at the curly-haired brunette, who was smiling at him as if nothing was wrong. "You were staring at me while I was asleep?"

"I woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water."

Lovino groaned, before standing up and stretching his arms. "So are we going to have breakfast or what?"

Antonio slid out of bed and joined his purchase, staring at him intently. "We're having pancakes for breakfast today, and we have a few things to take care of. You two both need to be microchipped, and I'd like to do something about this."

Antonio ruffled Lovino's head of overgrown brown locks, beaming. "And, of course, I'd like to spend some more time with you! To get to know my little _tesoro."_

Lovi just scowled back, gruffly accepting the hug Antonio pulled him into. "I'm hungry."

"But of course! How could I forget! But..." Antonio looked the angry brunette up and down. "You need to get dressed first."

Lovino sighed before walking over to the ornate closet and throwing the door open.

 _White button-downs, red vests, black pants...are all of these the same outfit?_

"We wanted to keep you in something simple to identify at the moment, but we can get you some new clothes later." Antonio explained, poking his head out through the yellow doorway. Lovi randomly grabbed one of each clothing article in hope that they would be his size, or, at least, fairly close.

"Don't stare at me when I'm changing, bastard!"

"You shouldn't be changing out in the open, in a glass walled room."

" _Cazzo..._ "

...

"Good morning, Antonio, Matthew, Gilbert, and...who's this?"

"That's Lovino. I bought him yesterday. Isn't he cute?"

Francis looked the brunette up and down, smiling. "Yes, I'd say so. How adorable! Come to think of it..."

Francis paused for a few minutes, forgetting to stir the pancake batter he was working on.

 _That one Perfect at the museum looked quite a lot like him...Feliciano, wasn't it?_

"Oi, Franny, you okay?"

Francis smiled graciously before refocusing on the batter. "Oh, nothing, just lost in my thoughts."

"Pancakes for breakfast? Awesome." Gilbert stretched and yawned, sliding into his regular seat at the table, Matthew sitting beside him.

"They'll be ready in a few minutes, you'll have to wait." Francis poured the silky batter into the sizzling pan, delicious smells of baking pastry wafting up from his station at the kitchen. Gilbert groaned.

"Why do pancakes have to take so long?"

"Compared to more complicated desserts like mille-feuille or milk crepes, pancakes take no time at all." Francis hit Gilbert on the head with his spatula, causing the albino to hiss like a cat sprayed with a wet hose.

"So, what's on the agenda for today for you both?" Antonio tried to break up the fight between his two friends.

"Well, we both have to take these two to get microchipped," Gilbert gestured to Lovino and Matthew, "and then I'm going to lunch with Mattie."

"I'm going to work from nine to five today, I'll try to bring you all something sweet to eat."

"Hey, bring me some of those macaroon things I like. I want Birdie to try them." Gilbert said excitedly, grinning as Francis slid two piping hot pancakes onto his plate.

"Macarons. There's a difference." Francis placed two of the delicious breakfast pastries onto Matthew's plate, smiling at the shy Perfect. "There's maple syrup if you want it."

"Thanks." Matthew said quietly, picking up the bottle.

"I need to take Lovi to Braginski's place as well as the doctor's office, and then we'll go eat lunch." Antonio poked Francis in the side in place of a request for more pancakes. "What about Ludwig?"

"He's staying home today. Don't know why; I offered for him to go with us."

"Probably tired, or sick, or _something._ " Antonio shrugged. Lovi scoffed before giving his solitary pancake a poke with his fork. Antonio nudged him with his elbow.

"Eat. You need your strength. It's going to be a very long day."

Lovi stabbed his fork into the pancake once, twice, three times, leaving puncture wounds in the poor pastry. Antonio stifled a giggle.

"You're very funny, Lovi."

Lovi said nothing, only continued to mutilate his breakfast. Matthew stared at him sadly. He had gotten used to living here with Gilbert already, but only because of the extraordinary kindness shown to him by Gilbert. Had Lovino been treated differently? Abused? He didn't seem to show any recent marks, even half-healed ones.

"We need to start heading out, we don't want to be late." Antonio stood up and carried his plate over to the sink, tapping Lovi on the shoulder as he went. "Your doctors appointments start in half an hour and we do _not_ want to be late. Feliks gets cranky if his clients are even one minute off schedule, and it isn't pretty when he gets cranky."

"Nope." Gilbert agreed, shaking Mattie (who had dozed off) awake. "Come on, Mattie. We definitely don't want to be late."

"Okay, okay." Matthew stood up and took his plate, yawning. "Come on, Lovino." Lovi followed his movements, a growl simmering under his breath.

"Alright, everyone ready? Good!"

Antonio grabbed Lovi's arm and headed for the door, Gilbert and Matthew following behind him, and Francis heading up the tail.

They all (minus Francis) piled into Gilbert's car, it being the biggest of the two, and headed into the city. Matthew and Lovi were crammed together in the back seat, while Antonio took the passenger seat, and Gilbert drove.

"So, after the doctor's office, Mattie and I are going to explore the city. I'm gonna leave the car in front of the doctor's office. We can meet up around 1:00, okay?"

"Sounds good. I think I'll have enough time to finish my errands by then, as well as lunch."

"Okay then." Gilbert turned a corner sharply, causing Lovi to crash into Matthew awkwardly.

"Sorry." He muttered, returning to his original position, leaving Mattie blushing and stuttering out his own apologies. Antonio giggled.

"Such a silly boy, Lovi. Can't you keep your hands to yourself?"

Lovi's face blossomed red, and he almost tore Antonio's face off right then and there. Luckily, Gilbert came to his rescue.

"Aw, come on, 'Tonio. You know that wasn't his fault, it was a sharp turn."

Lovi issued a silent thanks as he confirmed the statement with a nod. He didn't think that speaking would be the right decision at this point in time, seeing as he was already blushing furiously and any words that dared to come out of his throat would most likely be insults. Gilbert and Antonio kept up a steady stream of chatter throughout the bus ride, sometimes asking for Lovi and Matthew's opinions, more often than not letting them keep to themselves. The ride took around fifteen minutes, but to Lovino, it was fifteen minutes of hell.

Then again, when was living without Feliciano not hell?

 **Hello! I just wanted to say thank you for all the support I have received thus far. Your reviews always encourage me to keep writing (sometimes it gets really hard to just sit at the computer and go). Grazie, danke, gracias, and thank you!**

 **-Aria**


	8. Chapter 8

"Aw, look at him! Isn't he just _adorable,_ Roderich?"

"Eh? Um, I guess."

Feliciano cocked his head to one side, confused. Where they talking about him, or Arthur? He guessed most likely him, because _cute_ wasn't exactly the word to describe Arthur. Handsome, maybe. Grouchy, definitely. Rude, absolutely. But maybe these new people were eccentric, and they thought the blonde brit was, actually, cute.

"He's rather expensive, but I think we can scrape up enough! We have been saving up, have we not?"

"Yes, but we only have $80,000. He's $100,000, no?"

Feliciano's eyes popped. These people were rich, and they wanted to buy...him?

"I'm sure Vash will lend us- okay, no he won't. Still, you can delve into your piggy bank, can't you, Roddy?"

The woman of the two (whose face was criss-crossed with stitches) poked the male in the cheek, directly on one of the paper-white polka-dots that spanned the length of his face, almost like freckles, but bigger, almost the size of quarters.

"I was saving up to buy a new piano."

"Big deal. Isn't a living, breathing creature more important than a piano?"

"Well..."

"Oh, hush, Roddy, you heartless bastard." The woman sighed in unison with the male, who threw up his hands in dismay.

"Fine! But I don't see how this will be more beneficial than a piano! Pianos don't need food, they don't need clothing, they-"

"Excuse me! We'd like to buy this one! The brunette!" The woman waved her hand in the air, trying to attract the attention of an assistant. One came, naturally, as they were standing by at every doorway making sure that the merchandise that happened to be stronger than the average person didn't escape.

"Yes? You'd like to make a purchase?"

"Yep. The brunette."

"You mean Feliciano? Oh, he's _such_ a dear, he won't give you any trouble." The assistant, the blonde Feliciano was mostly familiar with, smiled and led the couple to the front desk to complete the transaction. Feliciano couldn't believe it.

After all these transitions and breaking of bonds, he might finally have a home.

...

"Like, hold still. I promise it'll only take a minute!"

Lovino squirmed in Antonio's grasp as Feliks, the doctor with pigmentless hair and eyes, approached him. In his hand he held a needle that, to Lovi's perspective, looked as if it would pierce right through his throat. Matthew had already had his turn, and was now whimpering slightly as Gilbert petted his hair, holding him on his lap. Antonio murmured soothing things to the writhing brunette as Feliks dabbed his neck with a cotton ball to prepare the injection site.

"Take a deep breath, and..."

Lovi inhaled a huge gulp of air and held it as he felt the needle enter the side of his neck, then exhaling as he felt it withdraw. Feliks slapped a bandage over the injection site and disposed of the needle, not even bothering to ask if Lovi was okay and if he needed gelato or something to help him calm down.

"Poor, poor, Lovi." Antonio murmured, holding him tightly to calm him down (much to the brunette's disgrace). "I know what'll make it feel better!"

"What?" Lovino looked up into his bright green eyes as if to demand an explanation. He wasn't sure what Antonio was going to say, but he knew it wouldn't be good.

"A kiss!" Antonio quickly pressed a small peck to the wounded area before Lovino screeched and nearly fell over onto the floor. Feliks whipped his head around ( _Oh, sure,_ now _he looks,_ Lovi thought with disdain) to find the source of the scream.

"Like, keep your Perfect under control. Honestly, they're no better than animals." Feliks scoffed, turning back to his work. "You've already paid. I'm sure you can see yourself out."

Lovi stood up silently, Antonio behind him, and Gilbert and Matthew behind them. Antonio took hold of Lovino's hand, which was trembling.

 _I'm so glad he reminded me of my place in this world. For a few minutes I actually thought I could have feelings._

"Come on, Lovi. I'll buy you some ice-cream or something. Don't pay any attention to him." Antonio whispered into his ear, trying to get him to stop shaking.

"Ice cream isn't going to fix the injustice of the social classes." Lovi mumbled to himself, but he let Antonio lead him out of the building and rub circles into his back to keep him calm.

"Didn't you hear what he said? I'm no better than an animal." Antonio clucked his tongue at this statement, rubbing the back of Lovi's hand.

"You're plenty human to me, Lovinito." Antonio kissed him on the cheek and Lovi felt warmth spiral out from the center. "Don't you think that's why I bought you? I wanted to save you from that horror of a place-"

"Then why didn't you take my brother!?" Lovi nearly screamed. Antonio bit his lip.

"I don't know. You just... stood out to me."

All the anger flooded out of Lovi in a single wave when he noticed the sadness in Antonio's voice. As much as he hated this self-righteous, arrogant, air-headed bastard of a person, to insult him anymore would be like kicking a stray puppy. Lovino took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for yelling. Could we go get something to eat now?"

Antonio straightened up and smiled weakly, happiness replacing the doubt that had been there two minutes ago.

"Sure. I have some errands first, though. Will you be okay?"

"Y-yeah. I'll be fine." Lovino forced himself to choke out the words, trying not to make the bastard any sadder than he already was.

"Good. Now, let's take care of those errands. The sooner we get those done, the sooner you can get food."

 **Hello! Good news, everyone! I've started a collab with my internet sister and overall amazing person, A Broken Imagi-Nation! It's called The Vice to my Virtue and it stars our lovable nations as the seven deadly sins and heavenly virtues with a healthy helping of forbidden love and death! Yay! Go check it out~ *shameless self-promotion is shameless***

 **Also, did you know that all fanfiction authors are kept in deep dark cells and the only food and drink we get are the reviews and tears of our readers? Please review so that I don't starve until the next update! Grazie!**

 **-Aria**


	9. Chapter 9

Mattie sniffled a few more times and leaned his head on Gilbert's shoulder, neck still throbbing from Feliks' injection.

"Can we go get food now?"

Gilbert nodded, wrapping one hand around Mattie's waist. "Sure. What would you like?"

"Something sweet. A cafe, maybe?"

"Sure. I know a place. Run by a few friends of mine."

"Lead the way."

Gilbert and Mattie, though gawked at by a few people _astonished_ to see a Perfect walking arm and arm with a Misfit, headed through the endless concrete labyrinth of the city, searching for a cafe that Gilbert apparently frequented quite often.

"Here we are! _Szerelem and Kekse_. The owners are really nice, and they're almost always there to talk and shit. You'll love it!"

Gilbert let go of Matthew and pushed the door open, holding it open for Matthew to walk through.

"Roddy! Lizzie!" He called, expecting the two shop owners to magically appear out of thin air. Instead, there was only silence and a small "Hello" from a boy and girl working the counter. Gilbert frowned.

"Lili? Kaiser? What are you doing here, running the counter? I thought that Elizaveta and Roderich were going to be here today."

"They are." The girl, Matthew supposed her name was Lili, spoke softly, with a distinctive accent. "They're at the museum. They're on their way home first, said they have to drop off something. Until then, it's only us running the counter. We're closing up shop early today, Lizzie said that she had something important to show us."

"Okay then. Anyway, it's good to see you two again. We're meeting up tomorrow, aren't we? Kaiser, how are you?"

"Good." The boy mumbled. He seemed to be trying to simultaneously polish a coffee cup and draw a picture of it. He seemed short, around 12 years old, and when he turned to great Gilbert, Matthew saw (to his horror) that the boy had a third eye, right in the middle of his forehead and shadowed by his bangs.

"Can we get..." Gilbert scanned the menu. "One BLT sandwich and an iced tea, and..." Matthew looked at the menu and made his choice, whispering to Gilbert instead of taking his chances saying something wrong. "...a raspberry danish and a cappuccino."

"That'll be 14 dollars, plus tax." Lili said, smiling. She looked about fifteen, although Mattie thought she was probably small for her age. Gilbert dug into his pockets for his wallet while Kaiser fired up the various machines in the back.

"Your food will be ready in around five minutes." Lili said, accepting the money (and tip) Gilbert gave her. Gilbert smiled, thanked her, and tugged Matthew to one of the nearby tables, the chairs plastic and cherry red.

As they sat, Matthew took a look, his first _real_ look, at his captor's face. A biased stare the day he was bought and shy glances out of the corner of his eyes didn't really count; he had never really, _really_ , looked at Gilbert's face in full. Now he studied it intently, trying to drink in every detail.

Tousled, platinum-grey hair that came to his forehead in swept aside, shaggy bangs, red eyes that flashed when they caught the sunlight, arching eyebrows and a toothy grin. Despite his albinism, his cheeks were slightly red.

Matthew was amazed.

Can jailers really be this beautiful? Is it allowed in nature?

Matthew shook those thoughts aside. _Stockholm Syndrome_ , he decided, _that must be it._

He couldn't be crushing on his captor. It's barely been a day! It made no sense, not a bit.

"Hey, Mattie! Earth to Mattie!"

Matthew refocused his eyes and slipped out of his thoughts to see Gilbert waving a hand in front of his face.

"You okay? You've been kinda zoned out ever since we sat down."

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Matthew smiled at Gilbert to ease his suspicions.

"Your food is here!" Lili stood beside their table, balancing a tray on her arm. She placed down two plates and two cups, blushing at their thanks when they came. "Enjoy!"

Matthew liked the look of his meal, it was very well put together, for a danish. The plate had several clusters of raspberries and mint leaves at the bottom, and his drink came with two sugar cubes and a little pot of cinnamon, along with a dainty spoon. The milk at the top had been poured in the shape of a heart, something Matthew found very cute.

"Dig in, _vögelchen!"_ Gilbert had already started chowing down. Matthew stuttered, "B-but it looks so pretty! I don't want to ruin the arrangement! Lili probably spent a lot of time on this!"

"It was Kaiser who arranged it; he whips out that kind of thing in five minutes. Now eat. You're too thin."

Matthew sighed before taking a sip of his drink, plopping in the two cubes of sugar and stirring it before drinking. It was delicious, the taste perfectly fitting with the sweet vibe of the cafe. Despite their ages, those two children certainly knew how to make coffee.

Conversation sparked as well as appreciation for the meal, and soon Matthew and Gilbert were engaged in topics as diverse as whether pigeons have feelings to as basic as their favorite colors.

"I like blue. Prussian blue, to be exact. It's so awesome!" Gilbert sucked the dregs out of the bottom of his cup of iced tea, leaving only a few ice cubes and a mint leaf or two. "And you?"

"Oh. I like orange. Sunset orange. It's so peaceful." Mattie's mind flashed back to the few sunsets he had seen before Alfred and him had been taken- _No, stop that, we are not thinking about Alfred right now._

"That's a cute color." Gilbert smirked and leaned over the table to poke Matthew in the stomach. "I kind of expected you to like a warm color instead of a cold color. It just seems... part of your nature."

"That's kinda stereotypical, but I'll let it slide." Matthew took one of the last sips of his coffee. "What about animals?"

"Oh, birds, definitely."

"Let me guess, something _majestic_ like an eagle or a falcon or-"

"A canary!"

Matthew blinked. "Y-you're kidding me, right?"

"Nope! In my room I have a pet canary called Gilbird! Named after me, of course."

"How could I have guessed?" Matthew mumbled. Gilbert carried on as if he hadn't heard the blonde. Then again, he probably hadn't.

"Gilbird is the most glorious bird alive. I kid you not." Matthew gave a sarcastic smirk.

"Sure, Gilly. You just keep telling yourself that."

"Anyway," Gilbert rolled his eyes, "What's your favorite animal?"

"Oh, um, I usually like large furry animals, like dogs or polar bears."

"That's a bit of a stretch." Gilbert raised an eyebrow.

"Polar bears are pretty cute though." Matthew sighed and pushed his spoon around in his cup. "I used to have a small raggedy stuffed polar bear, when I was young, before-"

He bit his tongue; Matthew wasn't ready to open up that can of worms yet. Not while his trust in Gilbert was still a little too raw. Maybe later, when he knew for sure that he could put all his assets in the hands of the albino, maybe then.

"Before..." Gilbert waited for an explanation, mentioning with his hands for Matthew to continue.

"Before the auctioneers decided that I was too old for it and got rid of it." Matthew said firmly, dropping his spoon. His expression turned slightly dreamy as he remembered the raggedy soft toy. "I really miss that old thing. I don't remember what it's name was, though."

"Well, you've gotta go get measured for a collar and a leash," Matthew sighed, and Gilbert tried to comfort him, "I don't want to have to do that either, but it's regulation around here. We had best leave now if we want to get that done."

 _And a few other things,_ Gilbert thought to himself. _I can't wait to see the look on his face!_

 **Hello!**

 **So, I have a very important question.**

 **Later in the story, I have plans for writing a few bonus chapters about alternate stories, that happen in the same universe. I have plans to do SuFin, RoChu, and something special involving our special little cupcake lover and fashionista. Which would you all like to see first?**

 **That's all I really want to say. Ciao!**

 **-Aria**


	10. Chapter 10

**Yo! Aria here! I just wanted to say thank you for the amount of positive reviews flooding my inbox, it's always a big perk-up and really appreciated! Please share this story with your friends and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

After having Lovi's hair cut from the back of his neck down to the nape (Braginski turned out to be the large man Lovino faintly remembered from that day, who looked like he would stab your eye out with the scissors if you looked at him funny), Antonio insisted that the two go out to eat, at a popular restaurant that was endorsed very highly in the area.

"I promise you, you'll love it!"

Lovi just rubbed the back of his neck, unaccustomed to the lightness there. Yes, the people in that twisted menagerie had cut his hair a few times, but since Feliciano was generally unskilled at this sort of thing, it usually meant Yong Soo over-enthusiastically hacking away at the back of his head with a pair of rusty scissors. He tried to avoid this dangerous process for as long as possible, often being forced to by the show's manager when his hair reached his shoulders. No matter how much Yong Soo insisted, he never let him within ten feet of Feliciano's head with those dangerous weapons from hell, and this meant he had to cut Feliciano's hair himself.

 _Feliciano..._

"Sure. Whatever." He mumbled, still thinking about his lost little brother.

"Aw, Lovi, don't be sad." Antonio wrapped one arm around the Perfect's shoulders, causing him to flinch.

"D-don't touch me, bastard."

"Lovino, is everything alright?" Antonio suddenly looked concerned. "You seem pretty out of it."

 _Took you long enough to notice!_

"Nothing, I'm fine." Lovino mumbled. "Just a little fucking shaken because of that jerk bastard Feliks."

Antonio sighed. "Look, Lovi, Feliks is a dick. Everybody knows this. You don't need to beat yourself up over it." He rubbed Lovi's shoulder with one hand, surprised when he didn't shy away like he had in the past.

"I'm never going to treat you like a pet, Lovi. Never. I think that's cruel and the fact that our whole social class revolves around treating your species- sorry, class, I mean...ay."

Antonio rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Just call it a class, dumbfuck." Lovi rolled his eyes.

"Okay, class, like garbage. I purchased you because I wanted a friend, not a fucktoy. Please, just.. Don't listen to Feliks."

 _You fucking liar! I saw how you looked at me!_

"Okay, okay, just shut up about it already." Lovi grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "I get it. Feliks shouldn't be listened to and the social class system is severely fucked up. Can we go eat now?"

Antonio sighed, then smiled. "Sure. Let's eat."

They walked down a few more streets, no more words being exchanged. Antonio kept his arm firmly wrapped around Lovi's shoulders, and Lovi didn't dare protest, for fear that he might 'punish' him again. To his surprise, he found that after a few minutes, he didn't actually mind. You'd think that he'd have minded, being susceptible to so many prods, squeezes and other teasing touches in the past. He hated it, hated them, for violating his body so many times, in so many different ways. Then, before he could stop it, a huge black whirlpool of bad memories blossomed in his mind, just waiting to push him over the edge and topple in.

 _No, no, no!_

 _A small, cramped room, with a single showerhead hanging from the middle. Lovino and Feliciano huddled together, shivering madly. "The water's going to be really cold, like always. Ready?" The smaller brunette (ah, when Feliciano had been shorter than him) nodded, wrapping his arms around himself like a straitjacket. Lovino jammed the button on the wall, causing a torrent of ice-cold water to rain down upon them, causing Feliciano to let out a little scream. Lovino gritted his teeth and started to run his hands through Feliciano's golden-brown locks, trying to dislodge as much dirt as possible. It was rather hard, without any soap, but he managed to get them cleaner than before, albeit not by much. He then began to clean his own body and hair, trying to do it as fast as possible before the water ran out._

 _The door slammed open, revealing a huge, burly man with bright blue skin and yellow eyes. His grin was positively maniacal, scaring the living daylights out of both the boys. "Aw, come now, kiddies, don't be scared! I only wanna play with y'all a little bit."_

" _Play with us?" Feliciano whispered. He was rather naive, considering what he'd gone through, but he knew what that meant._

" _We're nineteen years old, dumbass. Get the fuck away from my brother and I." Lovi stepped in front of his brother._

" _Fratello, you can't go through this again! Remember what happened last time?" Feli whimpered. Lovino growled at the man who stood in front of them._

" _Get the fuck out."_

 _The man held up his hands and left, smirking to himself. Lovi went back to washing his hair as if nothing had happened. Feliciano started to cry._

" _Fratello, he was going to rape you!"_

" _Not if I have anything to say about it. Now come on. The water will be gone soon."_

"Lovi? Lovi! Hey, anybody in there?" Lovi blinked a few times to see Antonio's startling green eyes frighteningly close to his own. Flinching, he shoved him away, both arms extended in front of him. Antonio stumbled back a few paces, then frowned, grabbing both of Lovino's wrists.

"I know you may be sensitive about people touching you, and I can understand that. But I never, _never,_ want you to lay hands on me like that again."

"Yes, sir." Lovi looked at his shoes, a blush rising to his cheeks. Antonio smiled, then took his hand and continued to walk.

"Here! It's italian! I thought you'd like it." Antonio's smile was so bright, it nearly caused Lovi to become blinded.

"It better not be this industrialized crap I'm so sick of seeing." Lovino muttered to himself, following Toni into the warm restaurant.

"Table for two, please."

The server smiled at them and led them to a free table, setting two menus out for them to browse.

"What would you like to drink?" Antonio asked, looking at the plentiful choices.

"Iced coffee." The spitfire brunette said quietly. Antonio nodded.

"One iced coffee and some sparkling lemonade, please."

"Lemonade, what are you, a child?" Lovi scoffed. Toni shook his head. "No, I just really like lemonade. It's very refreshing." The brunette seemed completely unfazed by Lovi's harsh words, which caused Lovino to wonder. Whenever he verbally abused his 'Master', he took it in stride, but when he did something physically such as ignore him or push him, he got angry. Maybe it was because he was just used to verbal harassment, and not physical harassment.

"Lovi? What do you want to eat?"

"Um..." Lovi scanned the menu. He had only briefly tried italian food from a restaurant once, when he still lived with his parents, and he had hated it, for the ingredients were cheap, and it had a greasy taste, as if somebody had been frying something in gasoline next to it while it cooked. Needless to say, they never went back there again.

"Pizza. And panna cotta. Yeah, pizza and panna cotta." Lovi said, snapping his menu closed.

"What kind of pizza?"

"Tomato." The bright red fruit had been a treat, back when he still lived in that filthy squalor of a zoo. Something to look forward too, among the oatmeal gruel and hard meat that was akin to a salt lick. Sometimes a previous customer, named Ned, brought fresh produce, a whole basketful of cherries and carrots and, of course, tomatoes. Lovino had always been first in line to grab two of the brightest, plumpest, most colorful fruits, often having to shove his way to the front of the line in order to snatch one. Not that Ned minded, as long as people were eating the food he grew, and he was getting money for it, he would let Lovi push and shove and claw his way to the front for a few tomatoes.

It was like a pack of wild dogs.

Raivis, always getting shoved to the bottom for his two cousins to clamber atop him to get ahead. Yong Soo, trying to run to the front but getting used as a springboard for other, stronger Perfects like his brother Leon. Tino getting shoved to the very back for his reluctance to fight. Vladimir having to bite his way to a spot near the front (his teeth were his best weapon, being oddly pointed for a Perfect), often drawing blood. And himself, was he any better? Keeping Feli safe while injuring others, all for himself and his brother's safe. Punching, biting, kicking, furiously running as fast as he could to stay in the lead. If you didn't fight your hardest, to stay on top of whatever came your way, you would die as quickly and easily as if a plague of rats had descended upon you and chewed you up, leaving nothing but bones.

"One large tomato pizza and two panna cottas please." Antonio broke him out of yet another stupor by simply placing their order. Lovino scoffed.

"Bastard, you could have ordered something different."

Antonio looked confused. "That would be wasting food. You can't eat a whole pizza all by yourself."

"Watch me." Lovino muttered, crossing his arms and looking down at the flowery tablecloth that was surprisingly clean for such a busy restaurant. There was something nagging away at the back of his mind, something he had been thinking of, subconsciously, ever since he had gotten into that yellow VW Beetle that fateful yesterday. It seemed like weeks ago, when he had been torn apart by his brother, when really it was only around 24 hours. Still this thought ate away at him, unrelenting, joining the fray of the other thoughts that always hung around his head, reminding him of how he was a total fuck-up who nobody loved and was really only around Antonio for the looks, like a pricey trophy.

That, and the sex appeal.

Lovi looked at Antonio, who was amusing himself on his phone. He was playing one of those stupid addicting games that everybody hates, but can't stop playing all the same. Lovino started to fume. If he had the time and patience to take him out to eat, he should at least pay attention to him, dammit!

"Hey, bastard! Get off your phone and talk to me! You should pay attention to the people you're eating with, or haven't you heard of manners?"

Antonio looked up from his game playing and smirked. "You could do well to practice what you preach, little fireball. You haven't spoken to me once since we got here except to say what you wanted to eat, using _my_ money. You really are a hypocrite, aren't you?" As he said this, he stuffed his phone in his pocket and leaned forward on his elbows, resting his chin on intertwined hands.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Anything, I honestly don't give a shit." Lovino stuck his nose up in the air. Antonio chuckled.

"Okay then, Mr. Stuck Up Italian. Remember, any infractions here can easily be punished back home." He punctured this statement with a little wink. Lovino slowly lowered his chin until it touched his neck.

 _Geez, he says that so nonchalantly! Sadistic bastard._

"Okay, fine. You win. I'll be a good little sheep and listen to whatever rules you may throw at me. Now, what the hell do you want to talk about?"

"Let me get to know you a little bit better. I barely know anything about you except that you love your brother, you don't like being touched, and you make these _adorable_ little sneezing sounds when you sleep."

"Hey!"

Antonio leaned back in his chair, smiling. "Let's start simple. How about favorite food?"

"Haven't really had much choice, since I was stuck living off begging money for the last, oh, I don't know, thirteen years of my life? Out of hard-ass bread, old vegetables, and stale water, I guess I would pick-" Lovino's rant was cut off with a worried look from Antonio, who was staring at him as if he had just said he had a fatal disease and would die in three days.

"You were living on the streets? I thought you had been in that hellhole since you were a kid." Lovino gaped.

"Hell no! I'm not that stupid that I'd get caught so easily! Now shut up, our food's here and I don't wanna talk about it anymore." Lovino crossed one leg over the other and shot Antonio a look that meant 'I swear to god, if you bring it up again, I don't care what rules you have in place, I will slaughter you'. Antonio, to his surprise, shut up about it, and accepted the offerings of tomato pizza and saucers of panna cotta that the waitress proffered.

"We'll talk more about that later. Now, c'mon, Lovinito. Let's eat!"


	11. Chapter 11

Matthew squirmed as the helpful shop assistant (who meant well but had no idea that his hands were so stifling) fitted a black leather strip around his neck, buckling a golden chain.

"It's too tight." The blonde gasped for air, causing Gilbert to motion for the collar to be removed. "Maybe something a little less... stifling?"

The shop assistant (with an original hairstyle that resembled a pair of ram horns; upon closer examination, they turned out to be just that) nodded, removed the collar, oblivious to the red mark it left upon the blonde's creamy neck, and returned with a collar that looked about the same, only bigger.

"This one looks better. Does it fit?" Gilbert walked around Matthew in a circle, checking for any signs of obvious discomfort. Matthew nodded. "It feels fine to me."

"We'll take it." Gilbert handed the assistant a few dollars, and walked out of the shop, almost immediately unfastening the leash from the collar and shoving it into the small drawstring bag he wore around his neck.

"I have to keep the collar on for the errand you need to do." He explained, reaching into his wallet and withdrawing a twenty dollar bill.

"We're walking up to the supermarket now. Can you go in and get some, like, cheap bagged candy? Like chocolate or something. I'm hungry already and I want something sweet."

"You just ate!" Matthew teased, giggling. Gilbert just smiled, handed him the bill, and inspected the tag on Matthew's collar.

"What does it say?"

"Standard information. Your name, my name, my address." Gilbert shrugged. "Look, here we are. Go ahead. People won't touch you if they see you're wearing my collar."

"If you say so." Matthew turned on his heel and entered the brightly lit grocery store, trying to find the candy aisle. Gilbert, as soon as the blonde moved out of sight, rushed across the street, trying to find the right address.

...

"And, here are your everyday clothes. We'll give you a different set when we're going out for a fancy event or such."

Feli watched as the kind lady from before handed him a folded set of pressed clothing, still smelling of detergent and soft to the touch. The brunette boy was currently perched on the edge of the big puffy bed they had provided him with, the one he would be expected to share with the other Perfect that lived in the house. Feli had been quite shocked when he found out that he would be treated like a son, not a slave, and that he would have a siblings. Or, at least, a girl and boy he would be expected to treat as his siblings. The grumpy man (Roderich, yes, that was his name) expressed distress at letting a small (apparently) girl sleep in a bed with him, but the nice lady assured him that he wouldn't hurt a fly. It was true, yes, he was usually quite docile, and he liked small children. They were always very cute and innocent, and hurting them would most likely cause Feli to break out into tears as well as the child.

"As for basic rules, please try not to break anything, and ask before you bake or cook something. Try not to disturb Roddy when he's working. You can wander the house as much as you want, I wouldn't be able to resist the urge to explore either." She punctured this statement with a breathy laugh.

It was true, the house was rather sizable, with three floors and a large backyard. Apparently the first floor was all the utilities such as the kitchen, dining room, and living room, the second was bedrooms, and the third was the various "studies".

"Roddy loves music, Kaiser and Lilly love to cook, and I like to... draw. Is there anything you like to do? I have an extra room upstairs that we thought we would use for Vash, but Vash prefers to be outdoors and you can't really shoot a gun inside." The woman looked at him expectantly, causing Feli to clear his throat.

"I like to draw. I didn't get to much back in the museum, but I have liked to ever since I was little." He smiled faintly, still not too trusting of this new benefactor. She smiled back.

"Of course. Do you like to paint? We'll get you some paper and canvas, and some good quality drawing tools." She patted him on the head and stood up, stretching. She was very nicely dressed, with a long green dress and an apron with frills around the edges.

"I'm going to go make dinner. I'd suggest you don't leave your room until I've introduced you at dinner, Vash gets testy around people he doesn't know." She waved, then left the room. Feli just sat like a sack of flour on the bed, gazing at his surroundings. A bed, with puffy sheets, that he was familiar with. Sky blue walls, with a few prints of clouds on them. A large dresser. An adjoining bathroom, and a lamp on the bedside table. Simple.

"Thank you, god." Feliciano bowed his head in a simple prayer, then went to change into the clothes she had provided him with.

...

Matthew scanned the walls that smelled like sugar and preservatives, trying to find something he thought they both would like. He didn't exactly know Gilbert's tastes, but he assumed that due to his extravagant, daredevil personality that he liked spicy candy and the like. Eventually he settled on gummi bears and those caramels with cream in the center, for everybody liked those. He also picked up a bag of black licorice, for a boy back at Objective had introduced him to it and now he liked it immensely (not the salty kind, he found that disgusting). He paid for the assorted sweet treats at the counter, before standing outside the grocery store and waiting. He did not have to wait long, for Gilbert came running from across the street in a matter of five minutes, holding a shopping bag.

"Hey! _Vögelchen!_ I got somethin' for you!" He barreled into the poor Perfect, who could barely breathe as he grasped him in a death hug.

"Gilbert, please..." The platinum haired man let him go and handed him the bag, barely able to contain his excitement as he looked inside and pulled out the gift.

"A-a polar bear?" Matthew was speechless, half from thinking, _Why did he get me a polar bear stuffed animal?_ And half from, _Aw, it's so cute! It reminds me of the one I had as a child!_

"Well? Do you like it?" Gilbert was practically bouncing off the walls, earning disgusted looks from passerby.

"It's adorable. Thank you." Matthew buried his head in the fluffy fur of the white bear, and Gilbert pecked a kiss on his forehead.

"I'm glad you like it, Mattie." Gilbert ruffled the blonde's hair, smirking. Inwardly, he was thinking, _Yes! Score one for the awesome me!_

"Time to go home?"

"Yeah. What candy didja get? I want some..." Gilbert grabbed the paper grocery bag that Matthew was holding and pawed around in it before emerging with the bag of gummi bears and the licorice.

"This yours?" He held out the bag of licorice to Matthew, who grasped at it and tore open the wrapper.

"Why do you even like this stuff? It's gross." Gilbert opened the bag of gummi bears and popped two red ones in his mouth.

"I think it's pretty good." Matthew mumbled, his mouth full of licorice. "My friend Emil recommended it to me, back when I was a slave to Objection."

"Emil? Weird name." Gilbert swallowed the chewy bears with a huge gulp and reached for more. "Didja get any candy for Toni? Because he'll get pissy if you didn't get him any for him and his little tomato to share."

Matthew sighed at the thought of having to give up his delicious caramels. "Yeah, I guess."

"Good!" Gilbert patted him on the back. "To the car!"

 **Hello! It's here! Yay! Please share this story with your friends, reviews are appreciated, yada yada yada, please pray for our Lovinito because shit is gonna get real next chapter. On that note, bye! *runs away before readers slaughter me because of what I did to our poor lovi***


	12. Chapter 12

Caramel? Yum! Thanks, Gilly!" Antonio took the bag out of Gilbert's hands and smiled.

"Don't thank me, thank Matthew, he's the one who picked them out." Gilbert nudged his little pet with his shoulder, provoking a blush.

"Oh, well, thanks, Matthew!" Antonio pulled the door open, but Gilbert stopped him.

"Let Mattie sit in the front with me. You can sit in the back and share your caramels with Lovino." Antonio nodded, still holding the passenger seat open for Matthew, who slid in quietly. He was still eating his licorice, the bag only half empty. Antonio instead slipped into the backseat, next to a sulking Lovi. He proffered the open bag of candy, causing Lovi to take one, open it, drop the wrapper on the floor of the car, and popped it in his mouth. Antonio winced.

"Please don't get Gilbert's car all dirty. I don't want to get yelled at again."

"That's because you spilled tomato juice all over the seats! The cleaning bill was hella expensive!" Gilbert shot back from the front seat, causing Matthew to chuckle. Antonio just smiled sheepishly and took another caramel.

"What am I supposed to do with the wrappers then?" Lovi responded, picking the stray one off the ground.

"Put them in that little trash can, right there." Antonio pointed to it. "We eat so often in the car that this seemed like the best choice." Lovino groaned and made a big show of placing the wrapper in the small trash can. Antonio beamed.

"Thanks, Lovi! You're such a good boy!" He pressed a kiss to the top of the italian boy's head, causing him to screech and move as far away from him as possible, taking the bag of candy with him. He pressed his head into the window and tried to curl up into a ball, protecting the sugary goodness.

"Lovi, give me back the caramels."

There was a muffled "No way in hell, bastard" and the sound of a wrapper crinkling.

"Lovi..."

"No."

"I'm going to count to three..." Antonio warned, waggling his finger. Lovino didn't budge.

"One..."

No movement. Antonio's face grew redder. The joking tone was gone from his voice now.

"Two..."

Lovino started to get scared, but he didn't move. He wanted to show his 'master' that he wasn't completely suckered by him.

"Three!"

Lovino felt pressure on both of his sides, and he relinquished the caramels with a yelp. Antonio leaned back with the bag in his hands, smirking. Lovino sighed. Antonio noticed his relief and grinned.

"Don't think you're getting off so easily, Lovinito. You're still getting punished for disobeying my simple order."

Lovino gaped as Antonio calmly unwrapped a candy and popped it into his mouth.

...

Matthew sadly ate the last piece of licorice as they all tumbled out of the car. He was still kind of uneasy about the way Antonio had acted towards Lovino. What if he was abusive? He couldn't let Lovino go through that. Just from looking at the shaking italian when he had first been introduced had been enough to tell them all that he was terrified of the green-eyed man.

"Matthew, hey, Matthew, what do you want to eat for dinner? Just asking. I can order pizza or something..."

"Yeah, pizza sounds great." Matthew thought himself very fortunate to have a sympathetic owner such as Gilbert, he would probably think this every day. After what had happened before, it was simply a miracle to him.

"Alright. You're kinda dirty, so go up and take a shower. Bathroom's just up the stairs, past your bedrooms, a right turn, and then a left. Think you can remember that?"

Matthew nodded, rushing up the stairs.

"I'll leave pajamas for you!" Gilbert called up after him. When he heard no reply, he turned to go back to the kitchen. He felt a grin creep onto his face, and it wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't help it much, that Birdie of his was just so _cute!_ When he saw him up on that stage, he just _had_ to have him. When he had checked his pamphlet (Objective provided each auctionee with little booklets describing who was going to be auctioned off that month) it had described the minute blonde as "returned merchandise" and "shy, with notes of boldness and submissive tendencies". Describing him as if he were meat. The worst thing was, they were conditioned to think of themselves as meat.

"Hey, Toni!" There was no answer, and Gilbert just assumed that he was hanging out with Lovino. He resolved that if he heard any screaming, he would check in on them, but otherwise he would just leave them alone. He headed towards the living room and picked up the blocky phone they used whenever they ordered pizza or prank called that stick-up-his-arse prick Roderich. Gilbert shuddered when he thought of the aristo-brat's mocking tone and stony glare. He shook off those feelings and picked up the phone. They had ordered pizza so many times that the number was the second listing on speed dial.

"You again?" The familiar voice spilled out through the phone.

"Yeah. Same order, please, you know the drill."

"We'll be at your house as soon as possible." The line clicked and Gilbert set down the phone. He really liked that pizza guy, he was always really bitter and not very good with people skills, but he did his job and he was fun to tease. Gilbert headed up the stairs with a smirk still lingering on his lips.

He especially wanted to taste Matthew's kisses; they were probably warm and sweet and sugary. He wasn't ready for that though, none of them were.

He headed up to Birdie's bedroom to pick out some pajamas for him to wear.

...

"Hold your hand out on the table."

Antonio had sat Lovino down in a chair by his desk and pinned his arm to the table with one hand, the joking glint still present in his eyes. Lovi gulped before doing as he was told, goosebumps popping out on his flesh prominently. Antonio studied the tanned, olive skin.

"This is going to hurt a little bit, but I'm sure it will heal up just fine. If you scream, you won't get any food for the next two days."

Antonio took Lovi's hand in his palm, took his pointer finger, and broke it, causing Lovino to bite his lip in pain to keep from screaming. A small strangled sound emanated from his throat, causing the brunette to pause in his "work".

"Don't scream now, we don't want Gilbert coming up here to witness this."

With a sickly grin, Antonio did the same to his thumb, and his middle finger. Lovino started to cry by the end of the third, blood dribbling out through the bite marks on his lip. Antonio kissed the now mutilated hand gently and set it back on the table, causing equal waves of pleasure and warmth to emanate from the crushed digits.

"I'll get some bandages to wrap them in. You sit tight, okay?" Lovino continued to weep silently as Antonio left the room. His fingers were bent completely out of shape and were starting to swell. The pain was intensifying slowly, and the redness of the flesh around the broken areas was reminiscent of a balloon Lovi had seen one of the children at YourShow carrying around once. The saltiness of his tears was irritating one of the open cuts on his hand, which was slowly beginning to close up and heal. Lovi knew that the broken bones would heal in a day or two, they always did, but if Antonio didn't set them properly, he would probably have crooked fingers for the rest of his life. And, knowing Toni, he would not set them properly.

"Lovinito, I'm back with the bandages!" Lovi jumped as Antonio swept into the room, clutching a roll of hospital gauze between the fingers of his right hand. Lovi sniffled and tried not to look at his assailant's face as he bandaged his fingers gingerly.

"I'm so sorry, Lovi, but I had to."

"No you didn't." Lovino managed to choke out, voice thick with tears and emotion. "You could have done something else. Deprived me of food, not letting me go outside, hell, anything but this."

Antonio finished wrapping up the last finger and sighed.

"I know I could have done something else. But this is the only way you'll actually listen to me; through pain. I've known that for so long, since it applies to so many people." He stood and left the room, leaving Lovino alone with his twisted, bandaged digits.


	13. Chapter 13

Dinner that night was mostly uneventful, as it was just casserole and some pastries Francis brought back from work. The pizza guy had delivered the meal they were supposed to be having, but Francis had a huge tantrum about "our new house guests having to eat such slop". He flounced around and sulked until finally everybody agreed that the pizza would be saved for another night (Gilbert made sure to tip the pizza man extra when they payed). Nobody even thought to question Lovino's bandaged fingers, seeing as whenever their gazes lingered too long on the injuries, Antonio delivered a swift, sharp kick to their calves. Lovino seemed to be healing quickly, however, so nobody thought it really mattered.

Matthew especially enjoyed the maple candy that Francis had brought especially for him (with a little prompting from Gilbert). It melted in his mouth, the smooth texture spreading over his tongue like butter, flooding his senses with the aromatic scent.

"I can see that you _really_ like the maple candy, Mattie." Gilbert teased, poking his blonde pet in one of his pudgy cheeks.

"It was one of my creature comforts when I was back at Objective." Matthew admitted, bringing his dirty plate over to the sink. "Sometimes a nice lady, I forget her name, snuck us some candy through the food slots in our doors. It was nice, eating food that didn't taste like somebody had uprooted the carpet on the floor and liquified it."

"Does my cooking taste like that?" Francis pointed at the casserole with a questioning look on his face. Matthew blushed slightly and shook his head.

"No, it's fine."

Francis smiled before pinching Matthew on the cheek. "This one is just too cute! You made a very good choice, Gil!"

"I know, right?" Gilbert scoffed, pulling Matthew in for a hug. "He's the very best!"

"What about my Lovi?" Antonio whined. Lovino looked up at the mention of his name, but continued eating his potato casserole as if nothing had happened. The potatoes he was eating, scalloped with cheese, white sauce and green peas, made him nauseous, but he continued to eat, simply because he was afraid of being deprived of food again. When his plate was finally ( _finally!_ ) clear, he reached for one of the delicately crafted cupcakes Francis had provided before Antonio slapped his hand away, still gushing about how cute he was.

"My Lovi is the cutest! You have to agree with me there! He's so funny and grumpy and his cheeks look like two little tomatoes when he gets angry, which, by the way, is also the most adorable thing ever..." Lovino let the compliments wash over him in a way he had never experienced before; nobody had ever given him compliments in general. Besides the annoying cooing and preening of the idiots that came to see him at YourShow, genuine compliments were hard to come by when you were a Perfect. Most people only wanted you because you were pretty on the outside, but, besides that _infuriating_ comment about his cheeks, most of the things Antonio was gushing about were his personality, not his looks.

It was nice, hearing a genuine compliment. For once.

"Alright! Bed, everybody. We've got a big day tomorrow, visiting that _prick_ Roderich and his banshee of a wife. How fun! Ludwig, I don't see why we have to do this." Gil stood up and stretched, crossing one arm over the other and sticking his arms out (and almost hitting Francis in the face). Ludwig, who had been looking increasingly uncomfortable ever since the 'gushing on our Perfects' conversation had started, also stood, collecting everybody's plates.

"It's important to be nice to our friends. Don't be so immature. Just because you once had a crush on-"

"Okay! That's enough of that stupid conversation! Come on, Birdie, let's go to bed! Goodnight, everyone!" Gilbert took Matthew by the arm and ran out of the room, a blush beginning to spread on his cheeks. Matthew stifled a giggle and followed him blindly, wondering why that simple comment had managed to stir Gil up so badly.

"Come on, you adorable creature." Gilbert turned suddenly and pinched both of Matthew's cheeks. "Liz will _kill_ me if you show up to her house tomorrow all dirty."

"Bathtime?"

"Bathtime."

...

Lovino sank lower down into the frothy water, his eyes closed. His fingers had started to ache, swelling up to twice their original size and bruising into a nice plum shade (an improvement from the inflamed crimson shade it had possessed just an hour ago). Antonio had insisted on helping him set up the bath, pouring in so many jewel-toned elixirs and bubble liquids that the whole bathroom smelled like sickly syrup, but he didn't urge Lovi to bathe with him. Lovino appreciated it, even if the rest of the time he was a jerk. He dunked his head underneath the mountains of foam and it came up sopping wet. He grimaced, then rinsed the remaining bubbles out, his nose objecting the bubble gum scent mixing with the grape and rose perfume residue left over from Matthew's bath.

 _Why did that tomato bastard have to throw so many fucking bubble liquids into the water? It smells disgusting!_

He stood up, thoroughly clean, albeit disgusted. He pulled the plug out of the drain in the middle of the circular tub, watching the multi-colored foam and froth disappear down the drain in a whirlpool of kaleidoscopic hues. Then, realizing that he was naked, he pulled on the red striped pajamas Antonio had left for him by the side of the tub and walked back through the various hallways to his prison of a bedroom, the glass wall glinting in the fading evening light.

...

Matthew snuggled into the plush covers of his bed, skin still tingling with the post-bath euphoria. He could feel Gilbert slip in next to him and put his arm over his waist, cuddling him close like the best kind of stuffed animal. Kisses were pressed to the top of his head, making him shiver in delight.

"I love you, Birdie."

Matthew said nothing, but pretended to be asleep so that he didn't have to reply.

 _Gil, I hope you mean it._

 _..._

The side of the bed that was previously occupied by Antonio was empty, cold sheets empty of the stifling warmth that Lovi was used to. He wasn't _missing_ the bastard, hell no! It was just kinda cold without him, that's all! Lovino buried himself deeper into the sheets and tried to drop blissfully off to sleep.

...

"Good morning, Birdie!"

Matthew was awoken by a hand furiously shaking his shoulder, the sensation standing out in the haze of a new morning and past sleep.

"G-good morning, Gil." Matthew sat up, blinking his eyes groggily. "Why are we awake so early?"

"Elizaveta's house is relatively far away and she _insists_ on having us early. No need to go down to the kitchen, I'll bring breakfast up to us and we can eat in bed. It'll have to be quick, but you won't need to get out of this comfy bed for a little while longer."

"Mm, alright." Matthew rolled over and closed his eyes, Gilbert tousling his hair.

"I'll be back soon, with breakfast!" There were loud footsteps, and then blissful silence. Matthew smiled as he reached for the fluffy bear Gilbert had acquired for him yesterday and held it close to his chest. It already even _smelled_ like Gil. Matthew silently snuggled for a few minutes before the door burst open again, the loud albino bearing a heavily laden breakfast tray.

"I'm back! I have orange juice and pancakes and milk and syrup and strawberries! I didn't know what you liked, well, except pancakes, so I just brought up a bunch of stuff for you to try!"

Matthew sat up again, his eyelids fluttering as he tried to rouse himself from the appealing darkness of sleep. Gilbert slipped into bed next to him with the tray and two plates, loading Matthew's plate with pancakes and strawberries and syrup. "Eat up. It's all for you, anyway." Gilbert beamed at Matthew, who smiled shyly back and took his plate.

"What if I get syrup on the sheets?" He gingerly tilted the tray so the sticky sweet brown goop didn't run off the side. Gilbert shushed him with a kiss to the cheek.

"Don't worry about it. Ludwig will clean it, along with your whole room, if I even mention it. I would, but I don't have the time." He nuzzled the cheek of the nervous blonde, who blushed and started to eat, taking small bites. Gilbert also began to tuck in, though his plate consisted of more sugary syrup and pancake than fruit. The two ate quietly for a while, finishing almost simultaneously. Gilbert grabbed Matthew's plate and slid out of bed.

"You don't have to do that-" Matthew protested, but Gilbert just winked and said, "Don't sorry about it, you still need to get dressed." He left the room, leaving Matthew to assemble his usual combination of blue best, black pants, and white button down shirt. He headed downstairs when he deemed himself presentable enough, hair still messy and mouth tasting of syrup. Gilbert was already there, sitting with a cup of coffee next to Francis. He clucked his tongue when he saw the state of Matthew's hair, causing Gilbert to groan.

"Mon ami, you cannot let this boy out to Elizaveta's house with that hairstyle. He looks like a fluffy bird charmed by static. That hairstyle may work for you, but it is not flattering on somebody with such a petite figure." Francis took another sip of his pale brown latte and sighed dramatically. Gilbert stood and took Matthew's hand.

"Come on, little chick. We've got a hairbrush with your name on it." He turned and shot Francis a dirty look, who shrugged and went back to nursing his coffee.

Matthew was getting better at traversing the huge house without help, and he didn't get lost at all when Gilbert led him around. The bathroom path was a familiar one now, and when the familiar door appeared, he sighed in relief. They entered, the floor still slightly sticky from yesterday's escapades with bubble liquid. Gilbert sat Matthew down forcefully on a spare chair that had appeared from who-knows-where, probably from the dressing room. The angle he had chosen showed Matthew's face in the mirror, and he was surprised at how much his appearance had changed in two days. His face was already fuller, plumper, and some of the slight stress lines around his eyes had disappeared. His eyes sparkled with a light he had never noticed before.

Matthew was taken by surprise at the motion of a brush moving through his thick blonde hair, catching on some of the knots left from a non-thorough combing the previous night.

"Geez, your hair is so thick." Gilbert winced, gently pulling on a particularly tough tangle. "How do you keep it this way?"

"Comes with the territory, I guess." Matthew mumbled, intertwining his fingers together. Gilbert just grinned and set down the brush.

"That's good enough, right?"

Indeed, it wasn't sticking up everywhere like before, and it looked smoother, so Matthew nodded yes and stood. Gilbert took his wrist and pulled him to his chest in a hug, cherishing the small Perfect's warmth.

"You're hella cute, you know that, right?"

Matthew paused for a second, processing this statement. He thought back to all the kisses Gilbert had foisted on him, the hugs they had shared. Even though he enjoyed those actions, were they all genuine? After all, he had never actually formed a relationship. It was more like Gilbert had adopted a puppy, the puppy being him, and was pressing affection on the puppy like most normal people did to their pets. They had never consented to an actual mutual bond, it just sort of... happened.

"Only to you." Matthew's hesitant words weren't very clear, as his face was muffled by by Gilbert's shirt, but the meaning wasn't lost.

"You're adorable. Shut up." Gilbert released him and they headed downstairs, where a cheerful Antonio, a yawning Ludwig, and a smirking Francis awaited them.

"Is Lovi coming?"

"No, he needs some alone time. He got in an awfully bad mood after his punishment yesterday. I was only trying to discipline him!"

"What did you do?" Gilbert asked suspiciously. Antonio blinked a few times, his face a mask of confusion.

"Eh? Nothing, just said he couldn't have any dessert. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah." Gilbert smiled sheepishly.

They all crammed into the largest car they owned (Ludwig's Touran) and started off on the long drive to a bigger city, where Elizaveta and Roderich resided.

 **Unrealistic Author Expectation of the week: fanart for this story :( I can dream!**

 **But I changed the cover image! Yay! Poor Italy, he looks so sad... Next chapter he's about to get a lot happier!**

 **As for the special extra chapters, I've received votes for RoChu, LietPol, SuFin, and something about Alfred (which shall definitely be in the story). Please send your requests! Reviews are much appreciated!**


	14. Chapter 14

"Good morning! Ludwig, you've gotten so big! It's been ages since I've seen you!" Elizaveta turned out to be a smiling woman with brown hair, brown eyes, and a face covered in stitches. Matthew seemed to take it in stride, but Antonio recoiled a little bit. He still wasn't exactly used to seeing Elizaveta and Roderich's deformities, being the most recent member to join the household.

"Come on in, all of you! Poor things, you look so tired! Gilbert, you idiot, have you been getting enough sleep? Probably not, since you still stay up gaming until 4 A.M."

"Liz! Give it a rest!" Gilbert blushed before following behind Antonio and Francis, gripping Matthew's arm tightly. Elizaveta swooped down on Matthew and pinched his cheeks, beaming.

"Who's this adorable creature! Gilbert, is he yours? How sweet, how perfectly sweet!" She didn't seem to care about Gilbert's laser point stare boring a hole into the back of her green dress as she pressed the young boy to her bosom in a bone-crushing hug.

"And Antonio, where's yours? I heard you had adopted somebody cute!" Liz released Matthew in anticipation of another recipient for an embrace, but Antonio just shrugged.

"He didn't feel like coming today. I tried to persuade him, but he still felt a little grumpy after an, er, incident yesterday."

Elizaveta frowned. "Well, that's a shame. I wanted to meet him." As they flooded into the spacious living room, Matthew noticed a man sitting on a piano bench, fingers moving across the keys fluidly, his cheeks polka-dotted with coin-sized white spots. When he noticed the others, he stopped playing and addressed them all with a stiff nod.

"Antonio. Ludwig. Francis." He stared at the albino, his curt expression souring into a frown.

"...Gilbert."

Evidently, the feeling was mutual. Elizaveta seemed not to notice, and she turned to Ludwig with a smile still intact.

"I thought you might be bored with our small talk, so you might want to hang out with our newest addition to the family! You'll find him in the last room down this hallway, on the right." She turned him in that direction and pushed him slightly, sending him staggering forward. He headed down the hallway and found the door in question slightly ajar. He pushed it open, eyes adjusted to the dimmed light.

Sitting in the middle of the floor, drawing a picture, was a boy who looked just like Lovino.

Granted, the skin tone was slightly paler, the hair color was a little lighter, and that weird curl that Ludwig was continually perplexed by was in a different spot, but it was definitely the spitting image of the spitfire Perfect that had so captivated Antonio.

"Eh? Who're you?" Ludwig blinked and realized he had been staring at the twin (or so it seemed) for an abnormally long period of extended time.

"Ah! I'm sorry for staring. You just remind me of somebody I know..." Ludwig cast his eyes downward and berated himself for starting off like this.

"Mm, it's okay. I'm used to strangers staring at me." The fair-featured Perfect shifted into a cross legged position, rested his chin in his hands, and returned the favor, scanning Ludwig up and down like a security guard. "Anyway, who are you?"

"Ludwig. Ludwig Beilschmidt. Nice to meet you." Ludwig extended a hand, trying not to let his embarrassed emotions get the best of him. The boy didn't take it, only continued to stare.

"Feliciano. It's wonderful to meet you, Luddy." The male, Feliciano, giggled and finally averted his gaze back to the picture he was drawing, going back to a position on his stomach. There were a few minutes of awkward silence in which Ludwig dutifully observed the boy sketching flowers, leaves, and the face of a cat, his barefoot legs crossing back and forth idly. Eventually, Ludwig moved from his standing position to sit in one of the chairs in the corner of the room, not sure what he was supposed to do. Eventually he pulled out his phone and started playing a mindless game. He looked up in the middle of a round once or twice, but he didn't expect during the third time he'd see Feliciano staring at him intently.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"I want to draw your picture, silly. Now, don't move. Go back to playing your game. Your face is cute when it's so intensely focused." the childish, lilting voice had a determined edge to it, and Ludwig decided it was best to obey his wishes. He went back to the silly cell phone game, a math game he wasn't fond of but he played once a day anyway to keep up-to-par on his intellect. He tapped away at the screen for what seemed like five minutes, but when the small male on the floor finally cried out "Done!", he realized it must have been a lot longer.

"Look, look!" Feliciano brandished the picture, obviously proud of his effort. Ludwig was shocked to see that it looked almost professional, as if it had been drawn by a famous artist.

"Did you seriously draw that? Is this a joke?"

"No, no, this is my actual work!" Feliciano seemed pleased at Ludwig's reaction. "Do you like it?"

Ludwig stared at the almost photo-realistic portrait, admiring the detail in the lips, eyes, and even the texture of the hair.

"Yes, it's very good. You're very talented. Did you go to some kind of art school?"

Instantly the atmosphere in the room dropped about ten degrees, and Ludwig mentally slapped himself. Feliciano only smiled, before saying, "No, I didn't, I never really had the chance to. I just practiced a lot, it's a talent I was sort of born with."

Ludwig was glad that Feliciano didn't mind his little slip up, as some Perfects got very pissy when he said blunt remarks without thinking about it.

"Um, Feliciano-"

"Call me Feli, Feliciano is so formal." The sweet-tempered male's smile grew brighter, and Ludwig swore that the temperature in the room rose with a simple glance.

"Okay, Feli, I'm sorry for being so thoughtless."

"Don't worry about it." Feliciano waved off the clueless remark with a little hand gesture, as if it was just a comment about the weather. "It doesn't matter."

There was more silence for a minute until Ludwig decided to lean down and see what Feliciano was sketching. A half-finished portrait of Lovino dominated the piece of paper, and Ludwig was taken aback once again at how lifelike it was.

"Is this your brother?"

Feliciano nodded aimlessly. "How did you know?"

"It looks just like you." Ludwig decided to keep the knowledge of the existence of Lovino a secret for now, he didn't want anything bad to happen to the male (who still hated him) if Antonio found out that he wanted to run away to his brother. He might do something awful, because, and everybody knew this, Antonio had a hot temper and a possessive nature, and if his new favorite toy wanted to leave him, well, it wouldn't be pretty.

"What happened to him?" Ludwig asked curiously, wanting to know more about how the two were separated. Feliciano slyly wiped a tear away before starting on the story.

"We were separated when Lovi was purchased, by a brunette with green eyes, I think. I never found out his name, but after that I was donated to a museum, one of the main ones, I think." Feli sighed at the memory. "I really miss him. We were together for most of our lives as children, and I don't think I would have been able to continue on without him." He sniffed, and held back a tear. Ludwig watched him try to contain his sadness at the loss of his brother, and thought about what would happen if Gilbert had been ripped away from him.

"I... I think-"

Just as he was about to say that he knew where Lovino was, Elizaveta burst into the room, carrying a tray of food.

"Sorry to interrupt, you two, but I brought brunch!" Elizaveta sat the tray down and winked at the two males, who both responded in very different ways. Feliciano smiled and made various happy noises upon seeing the delicious offerings, and Ludwig blushed and moved down to the floor to partake in the delicious meal. Elizaveta smiled at seeing the two new friends, and left them to their own devices, locking the door behind her.

"Let's see, there's sandwiches, and sliced strawberries, and some tea, and some cakes! Here, take whatever you'd like." Feliciano handed him a plate and began to take food from the groaning tray. Ludwig selected two sandwiches (to his disgust, they were peanut butter and jelly, which wasn't his favorite but he could stomach it), a few strawberry slices, and two delicately crafted pastries covered in white frosting and rainbow sprinkles. Feli delicately poured him a cup of tea, handing it to him with the greatest care. Ludwig saw that his plate was covered in food, which was to be expected, as Ludwig doubted he had only had a couple proper meals in his whole life. The pastries seemed to be his favorite, he had selected a variety of chocolate, vanilla, and others Ludwig couldn't identify.

"Eat, eat! Don't just stare at this delicious food, or I'll eat it for you!" The smaller male teased, poking at the stoic male's side. Ludwig, startled, picked up a sandwich almost reflexively. Feliciano only laughed.

"Now you're getting it, now put it in your face." Feliciano, who was now a little too close for Ludwig's liking, poked Ludwig's cheek, disappointed that there wasn't much fat there. Ludwig scowled, and bit into the sandwich, which tasted fine, for peanut butter and jelly. He continued to eat, surprised by how hungry he was, even after his (small) breakfast.

"This is more like lunch than brunch." He observed, taking another diminutive bite. "Is this normally when you have lunch, or brunch, or whatever?"

"I wouldn't know, I've only been here for a day or two. I think they're just feeding me so I don't feel tempted to run out and disrupt the 'grown-up talk' or whatever." Feliciano continued to chatter, leaving Ludwig to just eat and stare at his companion's face.

The features did indeed resemble Lovino's, but with a softer edge, they were almost feminine. Choppy brown hair, tawny brown eyes, expressive hands and pale skin, compared to Lovino's mocha-colored hair and hazel irises. Cheeks chubby but smooth, that strange curl that bobbed with every movement he made, and the simple, casual way that he spoke.

Beautiful.

Ludwig gasped as that sinful thought ran through his head, setting all his thoughts aflame like a forest fire. Had he really just thought that? He barely knew anything about this man, he just met him not that long ago!

"Luddy? You okay?" He felt another poke on his cheek, and he broke out of yet another trance.

"I'm fine. What's with the nickname?" Ludwig set down his barely touched second sandwich and picked up a strawberry slice, nibbling on it anxiously. Thoughts like that never happened, he was usually attracted to... well, come to think of it, Ludwig had always been a late bloomer when it came to this sort of thing. He had been attracted to a sweet girl when he was younger, but she had moved away, and since then he had never really felt any kind of strong sexual attraction to anybody, any gender. There had been a few crushes, not anything to follow up on, but that was about it. His brother always called him a fool for not "waking up and smelling the amazingly gay rainbow you need to be tasting", which Ludwig always brushed off as annoying older brother slang, but he never really considered the possibility that he could have been denying his feelings all this time.

 _Ludwig, get a hold of yourself! You are a guest in this house, now is not the time to go off on a tangent about your sexuality!_

The voice in his head berated him, and Ludwig, sensing he might be creeping Feliciano out slightly, he finished eating the strawberry slice, which was slightly underripe, but not so as to make it unpleasant.

"I like the nickname Luddy, it's cuter! Ludwig sounds so formal." Feliciano had finished his sandwiches and was starting in on the variety of cakes he had chosen. "Anyway, since I don't know you that well, we only just met and all, why don't we try to get to know each other?"

Ludwig nodded, swallowing. "Yes, that sounds fine. Do you want to start?"

"Sure! Um..." Feliciano thought for a minute before asking, "What's your favorite food?"

Ludwig had to strain for a minute, as he wasn't used to answering questions about himself. "I like black forest cake, it's very rich."

"I'm sure it's delicious! I haven't really gotten the chance to try many desserts, but my favorite for the moment is panna cotta. My parents used to make it for me, and it was really good!" He smiled again, cheeks flushing slightly, and Ludwig found himself smiling a little as well. The young man's cheerfulness was easy to get caught up in.

 _He's really cute... But I'm sure it's just infatuation. I'll get over it... right?_

 **I have an unfortunate announcement to make :(**

 **Due to schoolwork and other outside factors, I have to cut down the update schedule from every Thursday to every other Thursday. I don't like doing this either, but the other alternative would be suspending the story until summer when I have more material ready and written. I hope you all understand, and I hope you continue reading!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Ohmygosh, 104 reviews? You guys are amazing! Thank you thank you thank you! I love it when you guys review, it's wonderful and it really lightens up my day! Especially since I'm going through something right now... *coughcoughnotimportantcough* Anyway, I apologize again for the delayed update schedule, so please enjoy this chapter! Also, thanks to Just DoitSu for the offer of fanart! You're amazing!**

Feliciano stood and brushed crumbs off of his khaki pants, lunch having finished and everybody feeling slightly lethargic from the excess of good food and good company. He was about to say something when the lock clicked, and Gilbert entered, cheeks burning red, most likely from an earlier embarrassment.

"C'mon, bruder, we've gotta get going." He jerked a thumb outwards and mumbled something that sounded like, "Before Roderich spills his coffee on me again." Ludwig scrambled to his feet and held out his hand for Feliciano to take when the enthusiastic brunette enfolded him in a warm hug.

"I'm really happy I got to spend this time with you, Ludwig! You're very nice and I want to see you again lots and lots!" Ludwig nodded his head in agreement, awkwardly hugging Feliciano back.

"I would also like to come see you again, this time has been very enjoyable. Goodbye, Feliciano."

Ludwig turned towards the door, following Gilbert. His heart was thumping in his chest like a jackrabbit, and the flush in his cheeks just refused to dissipate.

"Hey, Luddy, do you got a fever? Your face is all red." Gilbert poked Ludwig in the arm repetitively. Ludwig slapped his fingers away.

"It's 'have' a fever. Speak English properly." Ludwig chided as they joined Antonio and Francis. Their cheeks were bright red, and the glints in their eyes seemed to indicate the presence of some alcohol and a liberating conversation. Half of Ludwig wished he could have been there to see what they were talking about, and the other half was disgusted at their behavior and glad he had stayed in the small room with Feliciano.

"Well, shall we depart?" Gilbert offered his hand to a nervous Matthew, who took it gingerly. With a few kisses on the cheek (Elizaveta to, well, everybody), and some icy stares (Roderich to Gilbert), they were off, back in the car for another long drive back to the city.

...

Lovino rolled over in his bed, sweaty, overheated, and bored. He had been in bed all day, sleeping most of the time. Sometimes he took a bite or two from the tomato Antonio had left for him on the bedside table, but since he didn't know when Antonio would be back with more food, he didn't want to risk eating it all at once. He was bored out of his skull, his legs twisting together and untwisting absentmindedly.

It was at times like these when he thought of his brother.

It was scary, admittedly, not knowing where he was or what he was doing. Was he okay? Did he have enough to eat? Did he get adopted, or was he still dwelling in that hellish nightmare of an agency? He could be anywhere in the world by now and Lovi would have no earthly idea. He wasn't used to this feeling; Feliciano was always, for the past half of his life, stuck to his side like glue, and he worked hard to make sure it stayed that way. If he strayed from the side of his more knowledgeable brother, he might be attacked, or harassed, or stolen. If that happened, Lovino wouldn't be able to live with the guilt. Thus, Feliciano stayed by him at all times as if on a short leash.

Lovino was about to polish off the last of the tomato, unable to ignore the growing hunger pains in his stomach when he heard the door click open and the sound of footsteps racing up the stairs. He could hear a muffled, "I need to go check up on Lovi now! I'll be right back! Or, maybe not!" and the sound of footsteps steadily growing louder.

"Lovi! How are you? Did you finish the tomato yet? I should have given you more, I'm such an idiot!" Antonio's cheerful face and (admittedly beautiful- no, stop, bad Lovino)frame filled the large glass window as he pressed his fingertip to the security pad next to the door.

"I'm fine. Sweaty, but fine. How was your visit?" Lovino spat the last word with contempt, as if it were a disgusting piece of fish he had been carrying around in his mouth for the past day. Antonio sat down on the bed beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"It was kind of boring actually. Liz wants to meet you, though. Nothing really exciting happened, but Roderich spilled his coffee on Gilbert's lap!" Antonio laughed, his grip tightening on Lovino's shoulder for a bit before relaxing once again. "Other than that, I don't remember anything else of much importance."

"Meet anybody new? Do Roderich and Elizaveta have Perfects too?" For once, Lovi sounded genuinely interested, so Antonio continued.

"Two, I think. We met them. Or, rather, one of them. She's rather cute, actually, short blonde hair, these really pretty green eyes, and short. She's around... twelve? Yeah, twelve." Antonio mused, moving his hands in vibrant hand gestures as he talked.

"Maybe I could meet her one day." Lovi thought out loud, half grumpily and half sleepily. "If she isn't a total dumbass like you, I'd probably like her a little bit." Antonio's only response was a laugh.

"Well, that's praise, coming from you!" He lifted himself off the bed and tousled Lovino's hair affectionately. "I'm going to go bring up some dinner for you."

"Thanks." Lovino adjusted his position a bit while Antonio pressed his fingertip to the keypad and exited.

...

"So, is Lovino adjusting nicely?" Gilbert said absentmindedly to Antonio as the brunette bustled around the kitchen, slicing tomatoes and lettuce while simultaneously trying to prevent a pan of bacon from burning.

"Not as well as I'd hoped, unfortunately. He has a bad temper, and a foul mouth." Antonio lamented dramatically as he sprinkled pepper into the grease-filled pan. "How about Matthew?"

"Oh, he's perfect." Gilbert chuckled at the pun he made. "Docile and obedient, as well as pretty fucking adorable. I love him." He gestured at the empty coffeepot. "Make me some coffee, will you?"

"Does it look like I can? Make your own damn coffee!" Antonio said good-naturedly with a chuckle, which quickly turned into a squeal of regret as he noticed the bacon shriveling up into the size of a stick of gum. "No! The bacon!"

"Not the bacon! The holy grail of deliciousness that is reserved for..." Gilbert made Bambi eyes, begging and salivating like a puppy begging for scraps. Antonio frowned.

"... my Lovino. If you want bacon, make it yourself!"

Gilbert groaned and pleaded, but Antonio just ignored him and started to cut up an avocado, having saved the bacon from charring into oblivion.

"You're no fun anymore, Antonio." Gilbert, having given up on the bacon, propped up his chin with his elbows and smirked. "Ever since you purchased that idiotic little-"

"He is not idiotic!" Antonio protested, cleaning off his green-smeared knife.

"Mhm. Sure. Anyway, ever since you purchased him, everything you say has been about him, for him, or towards him." Gilbert narrowed his eyes. "He isn't going to fall in love with you if you continue doing what you're doing now."

Antonio turned towards him, an innocent look plastered onto his face. "Que? What do you mean?"

"Oh, come off it. I've heard the things you say, and I definitely noticed those bandages on his fingers." Gilbert looked at Antonio meaningfully. "You've still got that possessive streak. I can tell."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Antonio said smoothly, finishing the touches on the sandwich and removing a carton of apple juice from the refrigerator. His hands shook as they moved, almost imperceptibly, but Gilbert still picked it up.

"Whatever." He decided, standing up and brushing off some crumbs that had landed on his jeans. "Don't kill him, okay?"

"I wouldn't dream of it, mi amigo!" Antonio winked at him as he poured a cup of apple juice and set it on a tray. Gilbert just sighed, and went to go check on his little blonde pet.


	16. Chapter 16

Everybody woke up the next morning to the sound of Francis squealing.

"Dude, chill the fuck out. What's so important that you have to wake all of us up with your fucking _eeeeeeee_ sounds?" Gilbert muttered, walking into Francis' bedroom (the one adjoining to the silver and yellow cage- sorry, I mean _room_ ) and running a hand through his hair.

"My special savings account just sent me an email with my current balance!" Francis was rolling back and forth on his bed like a child who had just acquired a new toy.

"So..."

"I can finally purchase my darling, darling Arthur!" Francis chirped, jumping off his bed and clasping Gilbert in a suffocating hug. The albino man wheezed, trying and failing to avoid having all of his ribs broken.

"Yeah, so?"

"Don't you see?" Francis yipped, swinging Gilbert around with surprising strength. "He is the love of my life, my one, my only, and now I can save him from that horrible life of being ogled at by all those.." Francis shivered. "...idiots."

"I doubt he thinks of it the same way, ya dummy." Gilbert coughed. "And how are you going to afford to help us pay rent and all if you're spending all your money on a whiny british fuckboy?"

"I made two bank accounts. One for rents, and one for this. I use all the money from work to pay rent, but any tips I get? They go into this little fund right here." Francis pointed to his laptop. "It took so long, but finally, _finally!"_

"Congratulations, dude, but... wow. You are over-reacting to the tenth degree. Chill." Gilbert placed his hands on Francis' shoulders and exhaled. "I mean, I was excited when I bought Matthew, but I kept it inside me and didn't go jumping like a sugar-crazed toddler all over the street."

Francis' gaze softened. "But you haven't known Matthew for years, haven't wanted to save him from that dreadful organization ever since he was taken." His eye cast downwards. "You didn't make a mistake that cost the two of you your friendship." He murmured quietly. After a short silence, he snapped his head up again and smiled.

"But now I can make things right! I can apologize to him, and everything will be fine again!"

"Whatever you say, bro." Gilbert muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "But if Arthur has any say in this, I don't think your bond will be mended that easily."

...

"Hello, I would like to make a purchase this morning."

Arthur heard those faint words echo from the front of the building, and his blood went cold. The french accent that normally made his sentences sound silky and smooth caught in Arthur's throat.

 _Francis._

 _He's here to buy me._

 _I don't want him to._

"How nice of you! Do you have a specific Perfect in mind?" That was Emma (that nice assistant that brought him his meals most of the time), her voice echoing down the hallway like the Grim Reaper.

"Yes, actually. Arthur, the one with the green eyes?"

"Is Arthur the one with the big eyebrows? Sorry sir, we have a few Perfects with green eyes here. Or at least, I think we do."

"Really? That's very interesting, actually. Yes, he is the one with the block brows." There was a chuckle, and Arthur could feel his face morph into a scowl.

"I'll go fetch him, sir. Will you pay by check or card?"

"Check, if you don't mind. Is that an issue?"

"Not at all!" She replied, heading to Arthur's cage. She was muttering something about "what a hassle it was to have to cash checks at that slug's pace of a bank" as she unlocked the cage, unwinding a long strip of leather that lay on her belt. Quickly and deftly, she twisted the rope into a noose and slipped it around Arthur's neck, tightening it so that he could still breathe, but any movement he made that wasn't initiated by the blonde assistant would choke him. He slid out of the glass case and followed Emma limply, moving from the dimmed light of the exhibit into the bright light of the lobby.

And there he was.

In all his idiotic glory.

He looked pretty similar to when he had last seen him, which was an undeterminable amount of time, as he had long forgotten. Long blonde hair, that perverted smirk, those blue, blue eyes that he had looked into so many times.

But now, there was only one.

"Ah, this is him. I've already written the check, it's on your desk. _Au revoir_!" Francis took ahold of the leather leash and beckoned to Arthur, who swallowed the unpleasant things he wanted to say and followed him.

They'd have all night to, ahem _, catch up._ Which would mostly mean a lot of screaming and yelling.

"Arthur, come along, we don't have all day."

The green-eyed man continued to walk, pouting and fuming the entire way. He didn't want this. A lifetime of servitude and slavery to this... _thing_ was worse than anything that could happen, even living in a museum. Most Perfects would disagree, as Francis apparently lived in a nice house now, with two others, and quite a large one too. He also could cook very well, had a nice figure, and was kind to people- that is, if you didn't manage to seriously piss him off on a regular basis.

 _I'd rather spend all day on the sidewalk then come home with you, frog._

 **SQUEEEEE**

 **THIS STORY HAS FANART**

 **Thanks so much to Just DoitSu for the amazing fan art she sent me! You are wonderful~**

 **Also... damn, 88 followers and 113 reviews? You guys spoil me, seriously.  
You know what something funny is? We have passed the page count and follower count of my previous story, "Cell Block Stories"! I found that really interesting, so I had to share it :3**

 **...**

 **...aaaand now that the good news is over, I have more bad news. Since summer has started for me (yaaay), my update schedule will pretty much go out the window. I will try to update every two weeks, but circumstances beyond my control will (undoubtedly) interfere. Sooooo sorry!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I'msosorrythistooksolongpleasedon'tkillme**

 **In all seriousness, I'm practically kicking myself for putting this off for so long! Thank you all for being so patient with me... In return, I pushed myself to make this chapter 2,000 words long, instead of my usual goal of 1,000. Kinda measly goal.**

 **In other news, I apparently have the vocabulary of somebody twice my age! That was pretty nice to find out!**

 **...**

"So."

The first thing uttered from Francis' lips was not what Arthur expected.

"So what?"

"I know you may be feeling something a little other than gratitude right now-" Francis began, but Arthur cut him off with a scoff.

"That's an understatement."

"And I don't expect you to thank me just yet, but you don't need to act so hostile towards me." Francis calmly continued. Arthur just turned his head away from the blonde and stared out the window at the smoky city scenery.

"You really expect me to thank you? You left me alone when I most needed it. I will never forgive you for that." He said quietly. Francis didn't say a word.

"I had a plan, Arthur. I was going to save up my money to purchase you, so you and I didn't have to spend our whole lives in servitude."

"Bullshit. You only think about yourself, you know that? When it comes down to the nitty-gritty details, you put yourself before anybody else. At least being together in servitude would have been better than being separated for _seven years."_ Arthur hissed, his emerald eyes burning into the side of Francis' skull.

"Aren't you only thinking of yourself right now? At least bury your scorn and pretend to be happy that I got away!" The frenchman yelled back, trying to focus on driving. He took a deep breath, calming himself, and turned his attention to the fuming british Perfect beside him.

"I won't tell you to forget, and I won't apologize for what I did. But we've both moved on now. You'll live with me, like a prince. I don't want to treat you the way..." He paused for a second, "... the way my friends treat their Perfects. Gilbert treats his own Perfect like some kind of pampered dog, and Antonio... well, the less said about him the better. We've known each other for so long, since we were _petits enfants_." He mumbled something that sounded like _and I still love you,_ but when Arthur turned to face him again his lips weren't moving. Arthur curled his top lip.

"You're still living with those idiots? I'm surprised you were able to put up with them for so long." He grimaced, and Francis shook his head.

"My whole talk, and that is what goes through your head." Francis leaned down and hit his forehead on the steering wheel a few times, much to Arthur's chagrin.

"You shouldn't do that, Frog, it's dangerous!"

"Aw, you do care."

Arthur flushed red from the tips of his caterpillar sized eyebrows to his fingers. Stuttering and unnaturally embarrassed, he turned his head towards the window and refused to look at Francis for the rest of the ride.

...

"And this is your room."

Francis loved seeing the expressions on Arthur's face when he saw the luxurious surroundings he would be staying in, the ones he tried to desperately to hide. He gaped when he saw the living room, kitchen, and bathroom, and Francis would tease him forever about the starstruck face he made when he saw his bedroom. From the yellow-gold and silver comforters on the four-poster bed to the fully stocked bookcase that lined one wall, the blonde had probably never stayed in a place this lavish in his entire life.

"That door there leads to my room, you see it? No, not the silver one, the yellow one."

"What's the silver one?"

"Dressing room."

"Does it lock from the inside?" Arthur asked cautiously, aware of the Frenchman's perverted tendencies when it came to his, according to Francis, "beautifully sculpted body".

"Yes, do not worry." Francis rolled his eyes.

"Great." Arthur strolled over to the glistening silver door, opened it, and sealed himself inside.

Francis, with a distressed cry, ran over to it and tried to pull it open, to no avail. It was firmly locked, and the jostling only caused him to acquire red, burning hands. Frustrated, he knocked on the door five times, hitting his knuckles hard enough to bruise.

"Arthur Kirkland! Stop being so childish and come out of there at once!"

"No, I don't think I will, thanks."

Francis let out a little growl. "This is idiotic. How am I supposed to feed you and give you baths if you stay in this tiny room for your whole life? You'll starve!"

"I'd rather starve than have you feed me." Was Arthur's muffled reply. Francis sighed. Gone were his little fantasies of spoon-feeding Arthur and sharing a warm, steamy bubble bath with him, which is how he _imagined_ his first day going. Instead, he got a grumpy Brit locking himself inside a space which Francis couldn't reach.

How disappointing.

"Fine. I guess I'll just go and make lunch. I was _going_ to ask what you wanted, but now that you've committed yourself to spending your whole life in this small little box of a room, I guess I'll just make chicken. You don't like chicken, am I right?"

He was sure he could _hear_ Arthur's stomach rumble. He _loved_ chicken.

"Yes, I think I'll make something like Chicken Tikka Masala. I know Antonio likes it a lot. But you don't like it at all, do you? Well, certainly makes it easier for me, only having six people. I know for a fact that Matthew, Lovino, Antonio, Ludwig, and Gilly all _love_ chicken."

He did not know this (and both Gilbert and Ludwig also preferred beef), but whatever he would do to get Arthur out of that room, he would do it.

Even if it meant breaking down the door.

"Well, so long, Arthur, I'm off to cook _chicken,_ for _everybody else,_ and _not you._ " Francis flounced out of the room dramatically, even though Arthur couldn't see him, but his footsteps would surely be heard.

Damn it, now he actually had to go and make chicken tikka masala.

...

"Eh? I thought we were having sausage today?" Antonio and Lovino walked into the kitchen right as Francis was finished serving portions.

"Change of plans." Francis muttered bitterly. He was loading up a tray with two bowls, a teapot, two matching teacups, and two saucers with a strawberry macaroon on each. Antonio understood at once.

"Ah, is Arthur acting up?"

"Something like that, yes. I just don't know if he'll listen to me." Francis mourned. Lovino muttered something unintelligible.

"What was that, Lovi?"

"I said, let me take the food to him. He's more likely to listen to somebody who isn't you." Lovino reached out for the tray, only to be stifled in a hug by Antonio.

"So polite! Ah, Lovi, you're so adorable!" Antonio cooed, much to Lovino's rage.

"Let go of me! I'll spill the food, bastard!"

Unwillingly, Antonio let go, and Lovino accepted the heavy tray with unusual grace and started the long journey up to Arthur's room.

"Poor thing... I hope Arthur doesn't bite his head off immediately." Francis handed a bowl of the orangey dish and sat down to eat. Antonio took a cautious bite, and smiled.

"This is great! You really are a great cook, Francy."

Francis' eye twitched. "Don't call me Francy, Toño."

"Don't call me Toño, Francy." Antonio shot back, the two of them just warming up for another playful argument.

...

"I don't want any of your delicious- I mean, disgusting, chicken, Frog! Fuck off!" Arthur shouted as he heard footsteps once again enter the room.

"Um, can you maybe chill?" Was Lovino's response, as he set the tray on the small table that was pushed up against the right wall. It was fancy, actually, styled in the form of a French cafe table and chairs, but Lovi didn't give a flying fuck about home decor. All he wanted was for Arthur, whoever that might be, to stop acting like a drama queen so there could be less drama in this huge house. And a bath without bubbles would be nice too.

"What? Who're you?" Arthur shouted, but less angrily this time.

"Somebody in your same situation, idiot. Now open the fucking door and let's eat something. I know for a fact that you must be hungry, because you just came from a museum, and you probably haven't been fed in a while, right?"

"Well, you don't need to be so rude about it." Arthur muttered to himself. He unlocked the door and exited the small, cramped room (he had been thinking about leaving it earlier, but he had to make a point, dammit!).

Lovino scowled at his appearance. How could anybody find this... _eyebrowed monstrosity_ cute? Granted, his features were rather pleasant, and some would find his accent sexy, but those eyebrows... Lovino's eyes stung.

Without a word, Arthur sat down and began to eat, ravenously but with adequate manners to satisfy even the most etiquette-minded critic. Lovino also began to scarf down the food, which was delicious, but a little too spicy for his taste. But it was food, and he was thankful for it.

"So, who are you?" The blonde remarked, around a forkful of vegetables. Lovino rolled his eyes.

"Lovino Vargas, 23 years old, missing a brother, and currently 'belonging' to Antonio Fernandez Carriedo."

"Urgh, that airhead. I never liked him, always so eager to start fights as a kid."

"You knew him as a kid?" Lovi remarked, now interested in this blonde stranger.

"Yep, and I wish I didn't. He's weird, that's for sure. Always cheerful, but... bloodthirsty, I guess is how I'd put it."

"You don't know the half of it." Lovino whispered bitterly, staring at his crooked fingers. Arthur didn't seem to notice this, and continued to talk.

"I'm Arthur Kirkland, by the way, also 23 years old, obviously 'belonging' to Francis Bonnefoy." Arthur rolled his eyes. "I hate him."

"Well, he seems to like you a lot." Lovino smirked. "A bit more than usual 'friends', I think."

"We aren't friends."

"Anyway, ignoring your obvious denial of your sexual tension, you shouldn't lock yourself up in that room anymore."

"Why? Because _Francis would get offended,_ and _oh no, we don't want that_?" Arthur scowled.

"No, because the floor in there is really uncomfortable. The bed is better to sleep in, if you ask me, but..." Lovino set down his fork. "Just don't let them sleep in your bed. I let Antonio sleep in my bed, well, not that I actually had a choice, and now he won't leave."

"Good to know." Arthur stood, having finished his entire meal. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to know? Read, draw, bang your head on the bookshelf a hundred times, I don't give a shit." Lovino took the tray and tried to exit the room. Unfortunately, the door refused to open, even after he rammed his knuckles into it and screamed "OPEN" at the top of his lungs, which was about as useful as screaming "CUPCAKES" at an oven.

"Why isn't the door opening?" Arthur wondered out loud. Lovino turned toward him, scowl plastered on his face.

"Fuck, now I remember, Antonio said something like, 'the only key out of your room is my fingerprints, tomato tomato Lovi Lovi'."

"So... Francis has to come let us out?"

"I think. Fuck!" Lovino set down the tea tray gently on the table, then went and kicked the glass wall, which failed to elicit any response.

"Damn that Frog and his stupid security systems." Arthur muttered, pulling out a book from the bookcase and sitting down on the bed to read.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lovino said, his voice positively dripping with anger.

"Reading. There's nothing else we can do, is there?"

"We could try to, hell, I don't know, crack the glass or something!"

"You must be an idiot if you think those labors would bear any fruit. They obviously wouldn't use fragile glass to build a wall. Those absent-minded birdbrains didn't build this house, you know."

"Well, at least try to do something! Don't just roll over like some kind of submissive dog!"

"And what would resisting do? Wear out our voices? Think things through, Lovino. In truth, _you_ are the dog in this position, running around without any logical thought in that tiny head of yours, and yapping away like the choicest mongrels. Change you color?"

Instead of responding, Lovino walked over to the bookcase and started to search for a book that fit his taste.


	18. Chapter 18

**It's here! Finally! I'm so sorry this wasn't up sooner, but I was on vacation for three weeks in England and Wales (which was amazing) and doing other stuff for another week. So sorry!**

 **On a lighter note, guess whose birthday is in two days?**

"Took you long enough." Lovi scoffed as Francis pressed his finger to the small glass panel next to the door, leaving a small oily smudge.

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for Arthur. Goodness knows what staying up here all day will do for him." Francis waltzed inside, pushing Lovi away from the doorway, and sat next to Arthur on the bed. The green-eyed blonde eyed him suspiciously and scooted away from him. Francis (surprisingly) didn't reciprocate and instead started staring intensely at Lovino. He got the hint and left, muttering to himself and clutching the book he had selected ( _How to Care for Your Garden)_.

"Well, now that the cockblock is gone, I can finally show some physical affection." Francis smirked, pulling Arthur closer to him by tugging on his sleeve until he lost his balance and toppled over, his head landing directly in his lap. Arthur screeched a manly screech and sat abruptly upright, or, rather, tried to, because Francis' hand caressing his hair pressed down on his head and made it impossible to rise. Well, unless he fancied having his neck broken.

"Let me go, you perverted menace!" Arthur wriggled and squirmed, expressing with every inch of his body that he was _uncomfortable, dammit!_ Francis, surprised, removed his hand and let Arthur roll off his body and onto the floor.

"Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. This is surprisingly more comfortable than your lap." Arthur looked up at him, glowering. Francis pretended not to hear that and reached out a hand to help him up. Arthur declined it and scrambled to his feet, awkwardly, on his own. He was about to say something about the Brit always having been clumsy when he was interrupted by Antonio knocking on the side of the glass door.

"We're going out for a few drinks. Gilbert insisted, as did Ludwig. Want to come?"

"Sure, I never pass up the opportunity for a drink or two." Francis stood up and yawned, stretching out his arms dramatically, before turning to Arthur.

"Of course, I don't think _one of us_ will be enjoying a pint tonight."

"What? What do you bloody mean?" Arthur spat, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow. Francis laughed, and Antonio soon joined in after a small, futile resistance.

"You know how you get when you drink, Arthur. And on your first day back, none the less!" Francis clucked his tongue. "I don't need everybody in our neighborhood thinking that I'm living with a bunch of drunken fools."

Antonio cocked his head. "But, Francy, don't they already think that?"

Francis responded with a glare. " _You're not helping."_ He hissed to the Spaniard, and he shut up. The blonde turned back to his grumbling ward with a breezy smile and ruffled his mop of blonde hair.

"Maybe sometime we'll go out, just the two of us, and have a drink. But for tonight, we'll have to abstain."

"You mean I'll have to abstain." Arthur snarled. Antonio piped up with, "If it'll make you feel better, I'll only have one glass of wine tonight, and I'm sure Lovi will as well!"

"I don't need your charity." The blonde swept a lock of hair out of his eyes and blinked. "I'll be fine. If we're going out, then let's bloody _leave_ already."

Francis merely chuckled. "As you wish, Arthur."

...

The hole-in-the-wall bar they were attending, _The Stumbling Puffin,_ was tended to by a wild man by the name of Matthias, whose startling red eyes and shark's teeth were quite evident by the time Lovino asked for a glass of wine that he didn't remember the name of, but it was Italian, so it was good enough for him. Antonio had just laughed and asked for "whatever he's having!" without even looking at the name.

"I've been coming to this place ever since I could drink. Hell, probably even before that." Gilbert grinned and gulped down another mouthful of his pint of beer. Matthew just nodded and gingerly sipped his ginger ale, not wanting to risk getting drunk and not being able to help the others.

"I know the owner personally. He's a pal of mine, and his cute little boyfriend Lukas too, though he doesn't seem to like me much."

"Perfect?"

"Naw, he's a Misfit, like me. Ice-blue hair, skin to match. Pretty icey personality too." Gilbert laughed raucously, as if this was the joke of the century, while Matthew just chuckled politely. Sitting next to Matthew was Arthur, staring into his cup of _Jolly Cola_ , the only apparent soft drink on the menu that wasn't brightly colored or having strange side effects (unlike the venomously blue soda " _Vira Blåtira_ " which Arthur _still_ wasn't sure how to pronounce or " _Nexcite",_ which was supposedly supposed to "promote the female libido". When asked why they even stocked that, Matthias simply grinned and pronounced it a prank on "Berwald", whoever that was).

"Don't you have any American soda?" Arthur asked, setting down his cup. Matthias nodded.

"Um, yeah?"

"Well, it doesn't say so on the menu!"

"Oh, you must have been looking at the Specialty Drinks."

Arthur looked down, and, surely enough, the small lettering at the top of the menu he had been given read "Specialty Drinks and Exotic Cocktails".

"Figures." Arthur muttered, sipping his drink and eyeing Francis, who looked like he was trying hard not to laugh.

"Shut your trap before it says something stupid."

"Isn't that a bit redundant?" Francis asked, sipping from his own glass of wine. "I mean, I wasn't saying anything. So how can I shut my mouth when it's already shut?"

"Wow, Francis, that was almost intelligent." Arthur said dryly, sipping his cola and avoiding the other blonde's eyes.

"I try, I try." Francis replied. "Now, are we going to do anything else tonight except banter back and forth?"

"No, I think bantering just about covers it."

The evening passed with nothing exciting happening, except for Gilbert getting drunk. Which, if you think about it, is actually pretty exciting.

"Okay, Francis, Antonio, help me!" Matthew hissed, trying to keep hold on the intoxicated albino.

"Hey... M-Matthew, y-your face is really s-sexy." Gilbert slurred, his steps shaky and wobbling as he clung to the blonde for dear life. Matthew just nodded and turned to the brunette with pleading eyes.

"I-In fact," Gilbert continued, his hazy eyes staring dazedly up at Matthew, "I think I'm g-going to bite it."

"Okaaay, that's enough of you. Francis, you take him." Matthew shoved the drunk man at Francis, who had the wind knocked out of him because Gilbert had barreled right into his stomach.

"Nooooo, Mattie, don't leave m-me..." Gilbert whined, clinging onto Francis' neck with one hand and reaching out for Matthew with the other.

"Sssh... mon ami, don't make such a fuss. You're drunk." Francis tried to soothe him, but Gilbert was having none of it.

"'M not drunk... 'm fine..." Gilbert reached out for Matthew again, but instead hit Antonio squarely in the back...

...causing him to topple into Lovino, who was complaining loudly about the albino...

...causing their lips to crash into one another...

Oh, _my._


	19. Chapter 19

**Oh my gosh, I am so sorry for neglecting this as long as I have. I just started school, and the workload is so different from what I'm used to, so I haven't had almost** ** _any_** **time to work on this. My update schedule is going to become hella sporadic, even more so from what I promised in the past, and it sucks that that's all the news I can share about it in each chapter. I'm so sorry again, and thank you to all the people who still have the patience to deal with me and this story.** **I might have had to put it on hiatus if it wasn't for you guys.**

Lovino stumbled backwards and clapped a hand over his mouth, eyes widening.

He had just _kissed_ Antonio.

Granted, it wasn't like he had actually moved to act romantically or anything, he had just been pushed accidentally. He looked over at Antonio, who was smirking.

"Um.. can we just pretend that never happened?"

"Of course, Lovino. _I,_ however, will never forget."

"S-shut up! It was just an accidental kiss!"

"Right. A kiss is a kiss, no matter how you put it!"

"SHUT UP!"

Elsewhere, all alone, Ludwig sat in the corner, nursing a beer. He was still relatively sober, only slightly buzzed, and sighed when Gilbert came stumbling over to him.

"What's wrong, Luddykins?" He slurred. Ludwig looked over at him, deciding it was safe to tell him, as he probably wouldn't remember this in the morning.

"It's... Feliciano. I haven't been able to get him out of my head ever since we went over to their house for lunch." He sighed again. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

"No problem!" Gilbert said, smiling goofily. "I'll just call up Elizaveta and Roderich and ask if Feliciano can stay over at our place for a while!"

"Wait-"

But Gilbert was already pulling out his mobile phone and dialing. Ludwig lunged for him, but Gilbert simply twisted out of the way and spoke into the receiver.

"Heeeeyyy, prick! Can I speak to the lovely lady of the household? No, I'm not drunk, why do you ask?" Ludwig tried to knock the phone out of his hand, but Gilbert's hand was like an iron vice. "Yo, Liz! Turns out my little bro has feelings for that little italian you've been fostering. No, I'm _not_ drunk, why does everybody keep asking me that? No, don't call me back, wait!"

The line went dead. "Geez, titties is really pissy when you wake her-" Gilbert turned and saw Ludwig's gaze looking positively murderous.

"We're going home. Now."

...

Once Gilbert had been tucked safely into bed, Matthew returned to his own quarters. Shaking his head, he laughed at how silly Gilbert had been acting at the bar. He surely was an idiot when drunk. Then again, he was an idiot all the time.

"Until tomorrow, Gilbert." Matthew said to himself, crawling into bed.

...

"Pleeeeeease?"

"No way in hell!"

Lovino crossed his arms and looked at the pleading spaniard in front of him.

"But we kissed tonight! Surely we should be able to sleep together again now!"

"WE BUMPED INTO EACH OTHER AND OUR LIPS MET! IT WASN'T A REAL KISS!"

"Ah, but you're not admitting that it wasn't a kiss..."

"I'm going to castrate you." Lovino growled. Antonio simply giggled and jumped on top of Lovino's bed, snuggling himself into the covers.

"Boss will sleep now." He announced. "Good night, Lovi!" Lovino ran over to him and tried to pull the covers off of him, but the idiot was already asleep. Instantaneously.

"That idiot! What does he think he's doing? First he's breaking my fingers, next he's trying to sleep with me and kiss me! I never thought I'd get into this.." Lovi griped, wiggling into his pajamas and, begrudgingly, sliding into bed next to Antonio.

"I'm only doing this because the floor would be uncomfortable." He told himself, staring at Antonio's sleeping face. It was strangely peaceful, and it almost made him look younger.

"Goodnight, you bastard."

...

"You're not asking to sleep with me tonight?" Arthur asked in amazement. Francis nodded.

"It's on of your first nights here. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable sleeping in your new home." He explained, causing Arthur's jaw to drop.

"G-good." He recovered his composure and coughed into his hand. "I won't have to face your molesting hands all night."

"Well, _bonne nuit,_ Arthur." Francis said dramatically, sweeping the door to his room open with a flourish and exiting Arthur's quarters. The room already seemed... colder. Arthur tried to ignore this feeling and pulled on his gold-and-white striped pajamas. He clambered into his bed and shut his eyes.

It was hard to fall asleep. The bed was cold, and smelled almost metallic. Unfamiliar. Arthur found his thoughts drifting to Francis' familiar scent.

 _Lavender... and rosemary... comforting..._

He jolted himself awake, shaking those thoughts away.

 _What am I thinking?_

After half an hour of these processes, Arthur gave up. He slid out of bed and approached the door to Francis' room. As he reached for the doorknob, he hesitated, drawing his hand back for two seconds. Then he grabbed and turned it, entering the room.

"Yes, Arthur?" Francis seemed genuinely surprised to see him. Arthur gulped.

"My bed's really cold and unfamiliar and I just need-" Arthur didn't have to say anything more. Francis moved the covers off the other side of the lavish bed and beckoned for Arthur to slide in next to him. Arthur obliged, trying to stay as far away from Francis as possible at first, but eventually giving up and curling up next to him.

"Goodnight, _mon petit lapin."_


	20. Chapter 20

The next day Gilbert was woken up by somebody very aggressively banging on the door, the loud sounds echoing throughout the house.

"Gilbert, _mon ami,"_ The albino heard Francis' grouchy tone quite clearly, even though he was only half awake, "Elizaveta and Roderich are here to see you. And they're _quite early."_ His voice suggested that he was not pleased with having been woken up so late and he had better have a good excuse. Gilbert's head was pounding like a jackhammer, but he stood and stretched before making his way downstairs, still in his pajamas.

"What's wrong, _princess?_ Somebody insult your prissy prick of a boyfriend?" He mumbled to himself as he stumbled down the stairs in a daze. There, in the front room, was a very angry looking Elizaveta and a very tired looking Roderich.

"You're the one who asked to talk to us. Don't you remember what happened last night, you no good alcoholic?" Elizaveta scolded. Gilbert shrugged.

"N't really. Did I kiss Matthew? 'Cause he's acting really weird-"

"You said that Ludwig has feelings for Feliciano."

Gilbert blanched. "Riiiiight."

Roderich coughed. "Shall we talk elsewhere?"

"Sure. Living room okay?" Gilbert gestured to the lavish living space and, without as much as a "thank you", Roderich and Elizaveta strode past him and into it.

"Geez, impolite much?" Gilbert muttered, following after them. He watched as they settled themselves into one of the velvet couches, staring at him with disdain.

"First, let's address the topic of your drunken message from yesterday. You're proposing the idea that Ludwig has feelings for Feliciano?"

Gilbert winced, rubbing his head. "Yeah. He never comes out of his room anymore, and he confessed last night at the bar."

"Was he as drunk as you?"

"No. Barely. He was definitely buzzed, but not drunk."

"Wow. I always knew that Ludwig got the good genes out of the two of you." Roderich mused. Gilbert scowled.

" _Anyway,_ moving right along, can we work out something?" Gilbert suggested, leaning forward. "Perhaps have the little Perfect stay at our place for a few weeks, see if any romance blossoms? We certainly have the room for it."

"Yes, yes, that sounds perfect, er, so to speak." Elizaveta seemed to be trying to staunch a nosebleed of some kind, but she was nodding. Roderich sighed, before inclining his head in agreement.

"I'm sure we can arrange for him to stay with you for a few weeks or so. We certainly have enough mouths to feed at our house. Are you sure you have enough room?"

"Absolutely. Ludwig's room has an adjacent room to it that he hasn't used yet, it'll be perfect for the little guy. Do we have a deal?"

"I mean, we should think of all the logistics first..." Roderich looked flustered.

"I said _do we have a deal?"_

"I suppose we do." The look on Elizaveta's face could only be described as pure joy, and the look on Roderich's was irritated, plain and simple.

Gilbert shook hands with Elizaveta, then (with nothing short of reluctance) shook Roderich's. The two stood, said their goodbyes, and went to the door.

"Wait!" Francis called to them. "Are you sure that you don't want to stay for breakfast? Tea? Something?"

"No, Lili and Kaiser made pancakes, so we're all set. We'll drop Feliciano off tomorrow! Bye!" Elizaveta said cheerfully before slamming the door in Francis' face.

"What? What's going on?" Gilbert and Francis turned to see Antonio and Lovino descending the stairs.

"Ah, Antonio, Lovino!" Francis, who had been moping at the door, did an abrupt abiout-face and greeted his friend. "We were just discussing the matter of our new houseguest! You see, a little Perfect called Feliciano will be staying with us for a few weeks, does that bother you?"

Lovino had finished climbing down the stairs and was now shaking softly, cheeks as red as apples. His head was ducked and shadowed, so Antonio couldn't see the expression on his face.

"Lovino... are you okay?"

Lovino burst out crying.

...

Elsewhere, in a different house, Feliciano Vargas's eyes started to water with joy.

"We'll drop you off tomorrow."

 **Hello! Hello! I have news!**

 **The first is that this story has reached 100 followers! Thank you all so much! I hope I'm not discouraging you with infrequent updates and short chapters...**

 **The second is that... guess what's actually gonna be in the next chapter? Backstory! Yes, the sad little lives of two characters will be revealed! But which two? Take your guesses! There will be blood, tears, and more tears! Yay!**

 **The third is that this story has also reached 11,000 views! Thank you!**


	21. Backstory: Arthur and Francis

**_I will post a proper author's note next time, but for now I am too depressed and disappointed in the electoral college that I cannot find it in me to write something happy. I am sorry. Here is Francis' and Arthur's backstory._**

 _Arthur sat on the threadbare carpet, pushing a toy truck back and forth. The faces of his parents were blurred smudges, unrecognizable to his toddler eyes. The only face that stood out was Francis', sitting beside him and playing with a matching toy. Both boys were still soft with baby fat, Arthur a bit more than Francis. Neither of them gave any thought to the disease slowly chipping away at the city; all they could think about was each other._

" _We'll be best friends forever, right, Francis?"_

" _Of course, Artie." Francis gave Arthur a sticky kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush._

" _Thank you, Franny. I don't want to ever leave you."_

" _And I you, mon petit lapin."_

 _..._

 _Arthur stood by his parents' covered bodies, silent tears leaking out of his eyes and down his cheeks._

" _I can take care of him! We can take care of him! Right, maman, papa?"_

" _Of course, Francis. We loved Arthur's family, and we love Arthur. We wouldn't let those awful companies have him, we aren't going to let him grow up into somebody who would take freedom away from others for money."_

 _Francis swept little six-year-old-Arthur into his arms and peppered kisses down his cheek to get him to stop crying. Arthur sniffled a little and looked into Francis' cerulean eyes, calming somewhat._

" _I've got you, Artie. And I'm never going to let you go."_

 _..._

" _I guess we're on our own now."_

 _Arthur nodded grimly, picking at his torn clothing._

" _I'm sixteen now, so I can take care of both of us, right? We won't be hurt by that disease, we would have caught it by now, no?"_

 _Another nod. Arthur was silent, sitting in the armchair previously occupied by Francis' mother, cheeks blanched to cream. Francis sat across from him, a tear glistening on his cheek._

" _It's going to be okay, Artie. We can make it through this."_

 _..._

 _Francis screamed, trying to staunch the flow of blood pouring from his empty eye socket._

" _Help me! I can't stop it!"_

 _Arthur rushed over, face contorted into a mixture of shock and horror as he saw the winking, oh so familiar aqua eye rolling around on the carpet and the almost endless fountain of plasma gushing from in between Francis' clenched fingers._

" _Call an ambulance!"_

 _..._

" _They're taking me away tomorrow."_

 _Arthur sat by Francis' hospital bed, talking to the limp figure whose right eye was covered by a white medical patch._

" _At least you got a replacement, so you can still count as Perfect. We can still stay together, right?"_

" _Um, about that..."_

 _Francis, slowly and carefully, removed the white patch with two fingers, revealing, instead of a beautiful orb, a sewn up socket, carefully stitched with lavender thread._

" _I'm so sorry."_

 _..._

 _Arthur sat in the pristine white transition room, torn jeans and hoodie replaced with pressed white shirt and pants._

" _Name?"_

" _Arthur Kirkland."_

" _Age?"_

" _16."_

" _Hair color, eye color?"_

" _Blonde, green."_

 _They took his fingerprints, a blood sample, some hospital tests, and finally, a branded mark in the middle of his back, an image of an orchid and a carnation, stems intertwined._

" _We let you slip away the first time, but now you truly belong to us."_


	22. Chapter 22

**A wild plotline has appeared!**

 **The wild plotline used ANGST!**

 **I'm so sorry but it had to be done. I hope you all don't hate me. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! They are always appreciated!**

After the good news had been given and breakfast had been consumed, the entire "family" sat around in the living room, watching a TV show of some kind. Lovino was crying again, though trying to hide it, and the rest of the family seemed to be sharing the good feelings. Ludwig, however, just looked embarrassed and had a prominent flush to his cheeks.

"This is nice." Francis said, tousling Arthur's hair and receiving a glare in return. "I wish that more days-"

He was interrupted by a musical fanfare, the national anthem, and a grey screen with black block letters flashing on the screen. "EMERGENCY GOVERNMENT BROADCAST", it read. The screen disappeared after a few seconds to be replaced with an image of their president.

"Ahem, sorry to bother all of you lovely folks on this fine morning, but I have an announcement to make. Due to a recent lack of knowledge in the public and government about the logistics of the Perfect immune system, the government has deemed it fit to randomly select Perfects from each town in this state to submit to government testing. A statement shall appear with your town's Mayor directly after this broadcast ends. If your household has purchased a Perfect, unfortunately the government has deemed it fit to seize this property on behalf of the country. We hope you understand. Thank you."

The President's image blinked out of view, the national anthem played again, and everybody tensed. Antonio stroked Lovino's back and squeezed his shoulders, as the brown-haired boy seemed to be having a more intense reaction than the others.

"Don't worry, Lovi, you won't be picked. There are a lot of Perfects in this town, it's a very small chance."

The image on the television popped and changed again, this time revealing their town's Mayor. She held a piece of paper in her hands, and her eyes looked red-rimmed from crying.

"I'm sorry about this. This is not a situation I want to be directing, but the government's word is law. Here is a randomly compiled list of the Perfects chosen for testing. Once again, I am truly sorry." She cleared her throat and read from the list. Most of the names were unrecognizable, but about halfway down the list a name passed from her lips that would change the lives of everybody in the household.

"Matthew Williams, belonging to Gilbert Beilschmidt."

Matthew's world shattered.

The room exploded with noise. Matthew blanched, tears welling up in his eyes, while Gilbert almost immediately yelled in protest. The two turned to each other, weeping, each holding on to the other protectively.

"I'm not letting them take you! I'M NOT LETTING THEM TAKE YOU!" Gilbert yelled over the chaos, his arms digging into Matthew's shoulders. Francis was also openly sobbing his head in his hands and Arthur trying to comfort him. Lovino cursed at the television, while Antonio just held on to Matthew protectively. In a few minutes, a moment of silence passed as the women stopped reading the names. Then, she cleared her throat and picked up the paper again.

"A government official will arrive in half an hour to collect the assigned Perfects. They will not need to bring any belongings. Once again, I apologize." Her image fizzed and popped and was silent. The room stood still for a few minutes, tears leaking down everybody's faces. What felt like an hour of silence passed before Francis cleared his throat.

"You two, go on up to your room. You have half an hour before he has to leave. Spend some time alone."

Gilbert grasped Matthew's hand and led him to the stairs, then back to his room, sobbing all the while. When they arrived, they both collapsed on the bed, holding each other and drenching the sheets with their tears.

"I don't want to leave." Matthew said softly, hiccuping. His voice sounded waterlogged. Gilbert pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Birdie, I don't want you to leave either. But if we resist, the government will probably shoot us, and the others as well. You know how they're like."

Matthew tried to dry his eyes, but failed as the salty tears continued to drip. "Do you think I'll ever come back?"

"I'll make sure of it. I will see you again." Gilbert sobbed, holding Matthew close to his chest. They stayed that way for a long time, quietly weeping and relishing the silence, relishing each other.

Both of them knew this would probably never happen again.

The silence was interrupted by the doorbell ringing once, then again, and then rapidly in succession. They heard Francis muttering curses as he went to open the door, and muffled talking. Gilbert slid off the bed and pulled Matthew with him. Matthew could smell the salt on his lips as he kissed his cheek.

"I will find you. I will see you again."

Matthew was shocked at the words, at the intensity of them. He had only known Gilbert for a week or so, but he had already formed an emotional attachment. A dangerous one. He swallowed thickly.

"I will wait."

No more words were said as Gilbert and Matthew headed to the front door, the back-suited official waiting for them with a cold smile. Matthew started to sob again. Gilbert hugged him tightly, the turned away, fresh tears cascading down his cheeks. The official took Matthew by the shoulder and steered him towards the huge, black government van, not saying a single word.

The door closed, and Gilbert screamed.


	23. Backstory: Feliciano and Lovino

**Okay... it's finally ready. So, it's been a... a while. Sorry, I was just writing and re-writing this chapter over and over... not to mention finals this week... bleh. But it's up, it's here!** ** _*halfhearted yay noises before falling down on the table, exhausted*_** **.**

 **On a different note, this chapter contains themes that require a small warning. If you don't want to read about such themes for personal reasons, please PM me and I will give you a short summary of the chapter. I will also change the warning if others require it. Thank you for being so patient with me.**

 **And finally, to end on a light note, 164 reviews! 118 followers! 14,991 views! Fanart! THANK YOU ALL!**

 **(and to spinoff story Guest, please PM me to discuss the details! The fact you'd like to write a spinoff fic makes my heart all fluttery owo).**

 **Okay I'll stop rambling now. Please enjoy!**

 _ **Trigger warning: this backstory contains mentioned pedophilia and mentions an assault.**_

" _Fratello? When are we going to go back to mom and dad?"_

 _Lovino adjusted his vision to the darkness of the abandoned building they resided in. It had been a month now. The apartment had been abandoned years ago, leaving it free for the Vargas twins to move right in. Some of the utilities still worked, like the water, but not the lights._

 _It had always been hard trying to let Feliciano get over his fear over the dark._

" _Feliciano, we talked about this. We know that those bastards were going to sell us both to that evil place, as soon as we turned ten. And how old are we?"_

 _Feliciano let out a little sigh. "Nine."_

" _Did they ever love us, or where they only hoping that we'd be Perfects so that they'd get money?"_

' _Money." Feliciano rolled over onto his back and sighed. "I'm hungry, though. Can't we go back to steal some food?"_

" _No. They'll take us again! We can't!" Lovino pulled awkwardly on the rags he was wearing, what remained of the clothing they had been wearing when they ran away. "I need to go get us some clothes, we don't want to be running around naked. We'll get attacked or something."_

" _Okay, fratello. I trust you. Hurry back as soon as possible!" Feliciano closed his eyes and drifted off into a fretful sleep. Lovino stared at him for a little bit before running out and heading for the nearest clothing store he knew, one that his parents had taken Feliciano to once. They hadn't offered_ him _any new clothes that day, it was all about little Feli. It mostly sold girl's clothing, but as far as he knew, they catered to boys as well. Not that Feliciano really cared._

" _Hello? Is anybody here?" He called out, trying to find a shop assistant. It was nearly closing time, and there weren't any customers in the store (luckily). "I need help!"_

" _Yes? I'm sorry, who is it?" A shop assistant, with long black hair and wearing a dress with very long sleeves, rushed out to greet him, quite flustered by the little cries of distress. "You said you needed help?"_

" _Um, yeah, down here!" Lovino, ever the impatient little scamp, tapped his foot as he waited for the shop assistant to notice him._

" _Aw, what a cute little child! What did you need help with?"_

" _I need clothes. My sibling and I've been living on the streets, and our clothing is all torn. Can you help us?" Lovino picked at the rags he was wearing and gagged at how sugary he was sounding. His motto (that he had just come up with right then and there) was whatever worked to get clothing and food, well, worked._

" _Hm... I guess I could spare a few of my less popular creations. Ever since the disease hit, they haven't been selling very well." The girl bared her teeth, which were as long and sharp as needles. Thankfully, the light in the shop was dim, so Lovi didn't see the full extent of the frightening disfiguration._

" _That would be wonderful! Thanks so much!"_

" _Anything to help a darling little girl like you! Where's your sister?"_

 _Lovi gulped. Again, the light in the shop was very dim, so it was an easy mistake to make, and he hadn't hit puberty yet, so his voice_ was _a little squeaky. Whatever works, works._

" _She's back at the place where we're staying, looking after what little things we have." He looked down and began to sniff, harsh words bouncing around in his head about what a stupid idea this was._

" _Aw, don't cry! Here, I have two dresses that I think will fit perfectly!" The girl rushed into the back room and returned in a few minutes with two very frilly, very feminine dresses just a little bit too big for the two boys. As well as the dresses, there were aprons and bandannas, and one dress was green and one was pink. Lovino stifled the urge to scream and accepted the offerings, smiling graciously. At least they were clean._

" _Thanks so much! You're a very nice lady!"_

" _Oh, it was no trouble! Anything to help two sweet little girls!" The woman smiled her frightening smile and waved him out of the shop. Lovino took off instantly, running as fast as his little nine year old legs would carry him back to the abandoned building._

" _Feliciano...I got us...some new clothes..." He panted when he finally reached it, holding the dresses out to Feliciano. To his horror, Feliciano took the green one and held it to his chest, crying out in pleasure._

" _These are so cute! Thank you so much, fratello! We're going to look adorable in these!" He took an apron and a bandanna and rushed off to another side of the small apartment, most likely to get dressed and admire himself in the cracked bathroom mirror. Lovino took the pink dress, the leftover apron, and the bandanna and dressed himself, retching at how fluffy the lacy layer was underneath the pink fabric. He tied the bandanna around his head and the apron ribbon around his waist, and looked down at himself. To his surprise, he actually pulled off the clothing, the skirt fluffed out just right and the tight fitting waist emphasized curves he thought hunger had stolen from his body a long time ago._

" _I look like such a sissy!" He cried out, stomping his foot and causing a cloud of dust to rise up from the ancient wood._

" _Fratello? How do I look?"_

 _Lovino turned around to see his brother done up in green, looking even more feminine and cute than he did. The skirt fell just a little bit below his knees, like Lovi's, but it puffed out a little bit more and hugged his torso just a little bit tighter._

" _Once again, you upstage me, even at cross-dressing." Lovino mumbled to himself._

" _Eh? What was that, fratello?"_

" _Nothing, you look fine. Now, come on, idiota, we have to go beg for food."_

 _..._

 _It had been two years now, and Lovi was_ still _dressing like a girl._

 _The friendly shop assistant had been only too happy to provide new clothing that hadn't been selling every time he or his brother had had a growth spurt, and once he had started collecting money, he was able to pay her what extra they had that they didn't absolutely need to buy food and drink. He suspected she was starting to suspect, just a little bit, but he continued to act more feminine and avoided all questions about his true gender. At the moment, he and his brother were dressed in matching cocoa-colored dresses, the shoulders and collar done up with white fabric and a brown ribbon. He had figured out two things on that fateful first day he had been given the dresses: one, that he was feminine enough to convince most of the city they begged in that he was; in fact, a girl, and two, Feliciano had a lovely singing voice. Both of these talents were used to collect as much food and money as possible, and they were actually scraping by._

 _Was it actually possible that he enjoyed cross-dressing now? No, it couldn't be._

" _Fratello, I got us some bread!" Lovino snapped out of his stupor to see Feliciano skipping towards him, holding a loaf of french bread under his arm. Feliciano had always been feminine, but with the skimpy diet and the dress, he almost managed to convince_ Lovino _that he was female. Lovi knew that he probably had the same effect as Feli, but a whole lot less effective. For one thing, his body was stockier, albeit just slightly, and he still didn't have as slender of a waist as his golden-eyed brother. "Thanks, Feliciano, you did good. How much did you pay the baker?"_

" _I didn't pay him any money! He was a very nice man." Feliciano handed Lovi the bread, not noticing the ashen expression on his brother's face._

" _Feli? What did he ask for in exchange for the bread?"_

" _Oh, just a kiss." Feliciano sat down on the floor, grabbed a sheet of paper and a crayon (one of the few luxury items they had been able to afford) and started to draw a bunny rabbit. Lovi ran over to his brother._

" _A kiss where?"_

" _On the cheek." Feli was still very naive, despite being eleven, and he didn't understand the evil ways of some people, but Lovi did, and he was terrified._

" _That filthy pervert!" He snarled softly to himself. "Listen, Feli, you don't go back to him anymore. He's evil and he'll attack you. Okay?"_

" _Why? It was just a kiss." Feliciano finished drawing the bunny and drew some grass under its feet, humming to himself._

" _He thinks that you're a little girl! He'll kiss you... down there." Lovi gestured to the area in question, causing Feliciano to cock his head like a puppy._

" _But those bits are private."_

" _He doesn't think that." Lovi whispered. "Don't go back there ever again, okay?"_

" _Okay, fratello. I trust you." Feli whispered back, bopping his brother on the nose with his forefinger and going back to drawing._

 _..._

" _Fratello, it's my birthday soon, right?" The almost 13-year-old Feliciano bounced around the small dining room, the edges of his new white dress bouncing up and down with every movement he took. Lovi nodded, exasperated._

" _Can we have cake? I don't need presents from you, fratello, because you're so nice and you get food and clothing for me and-"_

" _No, Feli, we can't have cake. The only baker in this town is interested in little kids; I'm surprised he hasn't gotten arrested by now." Lovino reminded Feli. "I don't want you to ever be seen around his place again."_

" _Alright... If you say so, Lovi."_

 _..._

" _You stay away from my... my sister." Lovi seethed, clutching a crying Feliciano to his chest. "This whole town now knows what you do to kids and teens like us. You're lucky I got here before you could do anything too intimate."_

 _The baker just shrugged and smiled that evil smile of his. "The cops are coming, you're right. But you better skedaddle once they do, beggar child. I won't tattle, but somebody else might. Fifteen year olds, however..._ valiant _they may be, are still minors."_

" _Shut up, you evil bastard." Lovino flipped him the bird and ran off, clutching Feliciano close to him. The streets felt rough underneath his bare feet, but all he focused on was getting Feliciano home._

 _Once they were back in the apartment, Lovino immediately turned to his brother, who was trying in vain to wipe away tears._

" _Are you okay? What exactly did he do to you?"_

" _He..." Feliciano sniffled. "He d-didn't do anything t-too bad,_ fratello, _he just kissed me... a lot."_

 _Lovino sighed in relief and hugged his brother tightly, then pinched his cheek softly._

" _You aren't going out in the streets anymore without me. Okay?"_

 _Feliciano nodded before curling up at his brother's side. Lovino sat up, watchful, and guarded his brother until he fell asleep on his lap. Then, he fell asleep too, the two of them clutching each other so that nobody else could hurt them again._

 _..._

" _Why do I have to wear these? I like wearing dresses!" Feliciano tugged awkwardly at the edges of his white shirt, still getting used to his awkward 18 year old body. Lovino sighed in appreciation as he finished buttoning up his own brown shirt._

" _Because we aren't fucking girls, Feli."_

" _You don't have to be a girl to wear a dress." Feliciano mumbled to himself, slipping a brown belt through the loops on his jeans and buckling it._

" _Whatever. We're going to look for jobs today and_ you _need to look presentable. C'mere, let me brush your hair out." Lovino beckoned his brother closer and picked up the secondhand comb they had been given by a kindly woman (along with soap and a few towels). Feliciano sat down amiably before looking up at his brother inquisitively._

" _Fratello? What do you think happened to mother and father?" Feli asked as Lovi worked his way through the knots in his tangled brown hair. Lovi sighed._

" _I don't know. They probably moved on from their lives or something, maybe had more children. I don't know, and, honestly? I don't fucking care." He yanked extra hard on a particularly stubborn knot before continuing. "Why are you so hung up on them?"_

" _I kinda missed them. Not anymore, but I did." Feliciano swung his legs, even though Lovi always said that he was, word for word, 'a fucking man now, and that's something a little fucking kid does'._

" _Well, at least you don't-" Lovi was interrupted by the apartment door bursting open, causing Lovi to drop the comb and Feliciano to burst into a high pitched scream._

" _Put your hands up! I repeat, put your hands up!" A man wearing a black uniform and hat pointed a gun at them, while two others appeared behind him. To Lovi's horror, they were holding iron chain collars and leashes, ones that would dig into your skin and draw blood if you pulled too hard._

" _Choke chains." Feli whispered, standing up and putting his hands above his head._

" _See, I told you they were dudes." One guy whispered to the other two. "Yeah, their parents kinda told us, dumbfuck."_

" _Our parents sold us out?" Lovi hissed, raising his arms slowly above his head._

" _Yeah, but around town people said that they recognized the physical descriptions, but that they were females." The other man countered, ignoring Lovi's question._

" _Whatever. Collar them and take them back to Objective." The man turned around and let the other two lackeys force them into the iron chokeholds._

" _Hey, stop right there!"_

 _Just as Lovino's day couldn't get any worse, two more people ran in through the open doorway, panting and red-faced._

" _YourShow had full claim to these twins!" The first one shouted. He was wearing a uniform as well, though his had a different logo on the back instead of a neat one on the pocket. "Their father came to us specifically!"_

" _Tough shit. We found them first." The men from Objective, as it seemed, tugged on Feliciano's collar a few times, causing him to squeak out in pain._

" _Let go of my fucking brother!" Lovi screamed, wanting simultaneously to fold him into his arms and punch all of these people in the face. The men merely clucked their tongues in unison._

" _Do you have a signed permit?"_

" _Yes, actually!" One of the YourShow men rustled around in his pockets before holding out a legal looking paper with a red seal upon it. The lead person for the Objective idiots inspected it, then nodded._

" _So it seems you do have a claim to them. Alright." The men holding the chains handed them off to the other two, who pulled on them to get them out the door. Feliciano started to cry. Lovi felt he was close._

" _Lovi... Do mother and father hate us?" The golden-eyed boy whimpered. Lovi, though it hurt his neck to do so, nodded._

 _People who craved power were scary, he decided. This world was full of sick people who did disgusting things to satisfy a... a need for something inside them, whether it be money, power or sexual desire, and it was those people, Lovi thought, that scared him senseless._


	24. Chapter 24 and Author's Note

**Author's note at the end of the chapter.**

The day had come and gone, and Gilbert didn't care.

The world could have cracked open and revealed a pool of magma, and Gilbert would have gladly jumped in. If there was a thunderstorm of apocalyptic proportions, he would have climbed up onto the roof. One day without Matthew had blossomed into what felt like an eternity.

Of course, that was the most likely outcome of this whole charade.

Before he had known it, Francis was knocking on his door, bringing dinner. Gilbert didn't acknowledge him as he crept into his room and set a plate of sausages down on his bedside table.

"We made wurst for you. Thought it would make you feel better." He said, apologetically. Gilbert didn't even look up.

"Ludwig's little Perfect is coming tomorrow. He is very cute, he might distract you-." Francis tried, but Gilbert just turned his head and snarled.

"Oh really? Ludwig's little _pet,_ who isn't rotting away in a government _prison?_ "

Francis threw up his hands in defeat. "I meant no offense, _mon ami,_ but-"

" _Leave_." Gilbert rasped. Francis fled. The albino man hung his head and his hands began to shake. Why was he reacting like this? It had been a week, a fucking _week!_ Why, why, why did he have to be so attracted to that stupid little blonde?!

That stupid little blonde with eyes like jewels and a smile that lit up the whole room...

"Oh, shut _up!"_ Gilbert shouted to himself, hating the fact that he had grown attached to Matthew in the way he had. If he had just treated him like a sex object, a toy, he wouldn't be like this now. No, he didn't want a plaything. He wanted a friend.

And now he was paying the dear, dear price.

...

What little of the day that was left passed in a dreary grey haze, moving from dusk to dawn, until finally Gilbert was aware of the sun rising and birds twittering cheerily outside of his bedroom window.

That, and somebody ringing the doorbell.

"Francis? Antonio? Anyone? _Hello?_ "

Gilbert groaned and rolled over onto the other side of the mattress, which was dampened considerably from tears, pulling the blankets over his head until he effectively resembled a caterpillar in the cocoon. He really did _not_ want to deal with Eliza today. Hopefully, Francis or Antonio would answer the door, deflect any questions about how he was doing (shitty, thank you for asking), and take care of Ludwig's stupid pet without bothering him about it. If they knew what was good for them, they'd leave him alone. They'd been pretty good at that mostly, with Francis coming into his room a few times, but only to remove the cold, uneaten food and replace it was hot, uneaten food.

Elsewhere in the house, Francis pulled the heavy door open, plastering as best a smile as he could on his weary face.

"Hello, Eliza, is Feli with you?"

Elizaveta, who looked somber, nodded, a ghost of a smile working its way onto her face.

"Sure is. He wouldn't stop talking the entire way here, about how happy he was to see his brother, and all his new pasta ideas, how mad he was at Anton-" Her voice cut off suddenly. "Well, you get the idea."

She stepped aside to reveal none other than the italian himself, trying his best to lug a heavy suitcase up the front stairs. Francis stifled a chuckle, this boy was more adorable than should be allowed.

"Do you need help, Feli dear?"

"No! I-I've got it!"

Dressed in a puffy brown coat and a matching hat, Feliciano's eyes sparkled with optimism Francis hadn't seen in a Perfect for as long as he'd been around. Even red-faced from the heavy lifting, he still managed to smile.

"What exactly did you put in that thing, Eliza?"

Elizaveta brushed him off with a flippant wave of her hand. "Just clothes and some of his drawings. I didn't want him to run out or be cold or anything."

"We do own a washing machine, you know."

Eliza was about to comment, but was interrupted by Feliciano's triumphant yell and the heavy _thud_ of a suitcase hitting the porch.

"Hello! You must be Francis! I'm Feliciano, but you can call me Feli! I like pasta and naps and pretty people and-"

"We've told him about you, Feli." Elizaveta looked like she was trying to stifle a laugh. "Francis, is Lovino here?"

"Yes, he's eating breakfast. Come inside, both of you, and Feliciano, would you like anything to eat?"

Feliciano stepped inside the foyer and looked like he was about to reply, but his eyes fell on someone else instead.

Lovino had just exited the kitchen, dressed in his pajamas and with a serious case of bedhead. Feli let out a cry and ran towards his brother, ignoring his suitcase in the process. Lovino yelped as he was knocked to the ground in a furious hug, but soon smiled (a rare occurrence) and hugged his brother back, his grip as tight as a hungry python's. Both brothers' eyes were spilling over with tears.

"I missed you soooo much, Lovi! I thought I was never going to see you again! But I met this really nice person named Arthur, and he-"

"Arthur?" Lovino looked confused. "Does he have blonde hair and stupidly thick eyebrows like caterpillars?"

Feliciano nodded furiously. "Yeah! Is he here too?"

"Surprisingly, yeah. Hey, we're eating breakfast, are you hungry or anything?" Lovino scoffed, casually drying his eyes with his shirtsleeve. "I-I mean, not like I care or anything, but Antonio probably would."

"Antonio?" Feliciano's grip loosened on Lovino's shoulders, and they both stood up. "The guy who bought you, right?"

"Yeah, he's a total dumbass. He's way too huggy and clingy, you'd probably like him a lot."

Feliciano just nodded, his smile just a tad strained.

'Sure, if you say so. Can I have breakfast with you? It's been at _least_ an hour since I've eaten last, and I'm super duper hungry!"

Lovino, in response, pulled Feliciano into the kitchen, where the smell of bacon and ketchup was strong, almost overwhelming. Feliciano still hadn't stopped crying, but as soon as he saw the brunette, green-eyed figure sitting at the far end of the table, nursing a cup of coffee and a sandwich, he stopped cold.

"Oh, good morning, Antonio. This is Feliciano."

 **Hey, everyone.**

 **I'm gonna cut to the chase here and announce that, after this, this story will be going on a** **hiatus** **, or at the very least an "expect a long time between possible chapter updates"** **hiatus** **. It's a complicated reason why I haven't put it on** **hiatus** **before now, but I guess now is a good time to explain it as ever.**

 **I really want to continue this story. I have five pages of plot planning and tons of ideas; I don't want to let this die. However, writing this story is getting pretty hard, for two reasons.**

 **1\. School**

 **School is tough, man. Between all my assignments and extracurricular classes, I only have a small amount of time for writing every day.**

 **2\. Time constraints**

 **What little time I have is spent writing original stories, ones to practice my writing and (hopefully) improve my skills, so that the things I post on here are better for you guys to read and enjoy.**

 **I have not fallen out of the Hetalia fandom, I don't want to let this story die, and I haven't abandoned it for good. Updating is just going to take a lot more time now, and that sucks, but that's life. I am still writing Hetalia one-shots and short stories, so I don't plan on completely leaving this site just yet. However, I do have an Ao3 account now, which I am updating as frequently as I can. There are exclusive stories on there that haven't made it to Fanfiction . net, so go check it out if you want (my username is the same).**

 **I am so, so sorry to have to do this. Thank you all for your support, all the faves and follows, and the reviews. Every single one makes me so happy and makes me want to do an even better job. Thank you all so, so much.**

 **Sincerely and sadly,**

 **Ariaprincess**


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